CO2 Emissions for CANDU nuclear (Canada)

[christopheradlam]

Back in the late 90's the Canadian Nuclear Society performed an extensive lifecycle emissions analysis on Canadian nuclear (our CANDU fleet).

The authors were:
S. Andseta
M. J. Thompson
Sheridan College, Mississauga, Ontario

J. P. Jarrell
Cameco Corporation, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

D. R. Pendergast
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2251 Speakman Drive
Mississauga, Ontario, L5K 1B2

Website for the CNS is: https://www.cns-snc.ca/

The study is not located on their current website, however a copy of the document, including all references, can be found here:
http://www.computare.org/Support%20documents/Publications/Life%20Cycle.htm

Which shows actual lifecycle emissions for CANDU nuclear at 3.2gCO2/kWh.

My hope is that we can use this study as the basis for the emissions intensity for the Canadian nuclear plants in Ontario.

[IkeBottema]

Back in the late 90's the Canadian Nuclear Society performed an extensive lifecycle emissions analysis on Canadian nuclear (our CANDU fleet).

The authors were: S. Andseta M. J. Thompson Sheridan College, Mississauga, Ontario

J. P. Jarrell Cameco Corporation, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

D. R. Pendergast Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, 2251 Speakman Drive Mississauga, Ontario, L5K 1B2

Website for the CNS is: https://www.cns-snc.ca/

The study is not located on their current website, however a copy of the document, including all references, can be found here: http://www.computare.org/Support%20documents/Publications/Life%20Cycle.htm

Which shows actual lifecycle emissions for CANDU nuclear at 3.2gCO2/kWh.

My hope is that we can use this study as the basis for the emissions intensity for the Canadian nuclear plants in Ontario.

Excellent point Chris.

[VIKTORVAV99]

CC @pierresegonne

[pierresegonne]

thanks for digging this information :)

Do you know by chance if there is a more recent source out there? I'm thinking something published in the 2010s at least?

[christopheradlam]

OK, I found a currently maintained lifecycle emissions database from the Canadian government:
https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-pollution/fuel-life-cycle-assessment-model.html

If you download and install the utility and import the latest database, Lifecycle emissions for CANDU nuclear show as 6.49gCO2/kWh.

Not as low as the CNS figures, clearly, but about half what the IPCC shows.

[christopheradlam]

This paper is Ontario-specific and is from 2008:
https://cna.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Comparative-Life-Cycle-Analysis-of-Base-Load-Electricity-in-Ontario.pdf

It has emissions for non-hydro baseload generators in Ontario:

1. CANDU nuclear: 1.84gCO2/kWh
2. Coal (not applicable): 1,051.22gCO2/kWh
3. Gas: 540.39gCO2/kWh

[christopheradlam]

Another publication, which is oft cited by industry including Ontario's grid operator (IESO) and our main power generation company, OPG, Mallia and Lewis (2013) is also Ontario-specific.
This publication has CANDU lifecycle emissions at 4.8gCO2/kWh
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-012-0501-0

If you have somebody in Poland or have a Polish VPN, it looks like you can view the whole text (it has emissions for all of Ontario's sources) here:
https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.springer-f7c2058b-3e15-33d2-92d1-23da4ed7ee19

One thing about this article is that it takes into consideration the grade of uranium ore used for fuel fabrication in Canada, which is a significant factor in reduced emissions compared to other jurisdictions with respect to mining.

Reference:
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/uranium-mining-overview.aspx

Most of the uranium ore deposits at present supporting these mines have average grades in excess of 0.10% of uranium – that is, greater than 1000 parts per million. In the first phase of uranium mining to the 1960s, this would have been seen as a respectable grade, but today some Canadian mines have huge amounts of ore up to 20% U average grade.

[pierresegonne]

Great! Thanks for the digging! I encourage you to then open a pull request that enacts that change.

Let me know if you don't know how to do that or want some support :)

[christopheradlam]

Thank you very much!

[christopheradlam]

Hey, thanks for all your help guys! I see it has been committed, how long does it take for it to show up in the app?

[VIKTORVAV99]

There is no defined release schedule but I'd guess there will be a release early next week and as soon as a new release has been published here it should be visible in the map (the next time the state files update and they update every hour on the dot) for the live data.
Since this also changes the historical co2 intensity that could potentially take a little longer but it will catch up eventually.

[christopheradlam]

Awesome, thank you for getting back to me so quickly, greatly appreciate it. I am going to purchase the Mallia and Lewis paper, review, and, if all is in order, create a separate submission to update other emissions factors for Ontario.

[VIKTORVAV99]

Looking forward to it! I don't know how much it costs but I would recommend trying to access it in a way that don't cost you money (library, university, etc) before purchasing it.