Canada’s oil sands going nuclear

FORT MCMURRAY, Canada (AFP) – Petroleum companies are eyeing nuclear power to feed burgeoning oil production in Canada’s oil patch, pitting ecologists against ecologists unable to agree on its climate change impact.

Squeezing one barrel of oil from the Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake Oil Sands in western Canada requires twice as much energy as pumping it from a conventional well, according to the industry, or three times as much energy, say environmentalists.


While crude is pumped from the ground, oil sands must be mined and bitumen separated from the sand and water, then upgraded and refined.

At an estimated 173 billion barrels, Canada’s oil sands rank second behind Saudi Arabia in petroleum reserves. However, due to high extraction costs, the deposits were long neglected, except by local companies.

AFP