Nuclear Technology and Canadian Oil Sands: Integration of Nuclear Power and in situ Oil Extraction

Report Date: December 2005
Appendices: No

Abstract

This report analyzes the technical aspects and the economics of utilizing nuclear reactor to provide the energy needed for a Canadian oil sands extraction facility using Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) technology. The energy from the nuclear reactor would replace the need for energy supplied by natural gas, which is currently burned at these facilities. There are a number of concerns surrounding the continued use of natural gas, including carbon dioxide emissions and increasing gas prices. Three scenarios for the use of the reactor are analyzed: using the reactor to produce only the steam needed for the SAGD process; using the reactor to produce steam as well as electricity for the oil sands facility; and using the reactor to produce steam, electricity, and hydrogen for upgrading the bitumen from the oil sands to syncrude, a material similar to conventional crude oil. The report shows that nuclear energy would be feasible, practical, and economical for use at an oil sands facility. Nuclear energy is two to three times cheaper than natural gas for each of the three scenarios analyzed. Also, by using nuclear energy instead of natural gas, a plant producing 100,000 barrels of bitumen per day would prevent up to 100 megatonnes of CO2 per year from being released into the atmosphere.

Program:     NES: Nuclear Energy and Sustainability

RPT. No.: 5