Canada turns to nuclear power after 30-year pause to meet demand surge

illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece in Yahoo Finance or enjoy below 

🗞️ Driving the news: Ontario plans to expand its existing nuclear plant to become the world's largest, and has pledged to add three small modular reactors to an already under-construction site
• This marks a revival for the nuclear industry that has been at a standstill for decades due to safety concerns and cost overruns

🔭 The context: This announcement comes after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, and cost overruns in the US Vogtle nuclear project
• These events further fueled the global resistance against nuclear energy
• Despite this, Ontario is pushing ahead with nuclear, marking the first large-scale nuclear build in Canada in over three decades

🌎 Why it matters for the planet: Nuclear energy provides a significant potential pathway to meeting global clean energy targets, given its capability to generate substantial power with minimal carbon emissions

⏭️ What's next: Ontario will need to spend about C$400 billion ($303 billion) by 2050 to double its generating capacity to 88.4 gigawatts, in line with an increase in electricity demand as drivers switch to electric vehicles and homes and businesses transition away from fossil fuels

💬 One quote: "We are returning to our nuclear roots, and it couldn’t happen at a more important time” (John Gorman, president of the Canadian Nuclear Association)

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