Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Today I'm here as chairman of the Canadian Nuclear Association. With me is Mr. Murray Elston, past-president and very active member of the CNA.
Through our short presentation, I'll provide a general overview of the state of the Canadian nuclear industry and its contributions to the Canadian economy, employment, and other key segments of our society.
The CNA is a non-profit organization. It was established in 1960 to represent the nuclear industry in Canada and to promote the development and growth of nuclear technologies for peaceful purposes. The association represents the entire spectrum of the nuclear industry, including mining, nuclear service providers, and nuclear electricity production.
With that, I'll walk you through a short presentation. Then Mr. Murray Elston and I will be happy to answer questions.
Starting on page 1, you'll see that the Canadian nuclear power industry has been generating electricity from the reactors for 47 years. We've had 22 CANDU nuclear plants in Canada. In 2008 we generated 14.8% of Canada's electricity. In Ontario it was 53% and in Quebec it was 3%. New Brunswick is normally around 30% for its plant, but it's into refurbishment, and it was down to 6%.
As of October of this year, we have 17 reactors in service. We have three reactors being refurbished, those at Point Lepreau and units 1 and 2 at Bruce A. There are 22 reactors licensed, with 17 are in operation.
On slide 2, you'll see the contributions and the profile of the nuclear industry. Nuclear energy is a $6.6 billion industry. It's a very substantial part of our Canadian industry. It contributes $1.5 billion to federal and provincial revenues alone through taxes. In 2008 Canada's nuclear industry generated $1.2 billion in exports.
Over 150 nuclear-related firms are in Canada. Total direct and indirect employment is very large at 30,000 jobs. That's a very substantial amount of employment.
You've just heard our colleague, Gerald Grandey, talk about employment in the uranium mining industry. There are an estimated 5,000 people in the uranium mining industry.
On slide 3, you'll see the economic impact of Canada's nuclear industry. We use 2005 as an example. The total value of electricity generated was approximately $5 billion. GDP creation was about $6.3 billion. The value of uranium exports was $381 million and government revenues from uranium exports were about $100 million.
On slide 4, you'll see that Canada is a world leader in uranium. Mr. Grandey gave a very good explanation of uranium production facilities, the quantities we have, and our access to world markets. The big deposits he talked about in Saskatchewan, at McArthur River and Cigar Lake, are very rich grades of ore for the Canadian companies.
Of note is the fact that electricity generated from uranium worldwide avoids 700 million tonnes of C02 emissions annually. That's all the contribution of nuclear energy. With the fuel and our production, there is that much in savings of greenhouse gases.
Slide 5 shows the advancements in global health. Canada is a leader in cancer treatment using our cobalt-60 machines. We still produce cobalt for these machines. In North America, there are 20 million medical diagnostic procedures that use radioisotopes.
Over half the world's medical isotopes are produced by Canada by AECL's NRU and are distributed by Ottawa's MDS Nordion. The medical isotopes from Canadian production are used in approximately 60,000 medical procedures worldwide, with 5,000 of those in Canada.
On slide 6 you'll see the contribution of electricity and the different ways of producing electricity in Canada. You'll see that hydro is still our most substantial producer, at 61%, but nuclear is at 14.8%. When you look at this contribution, you see that approximately three-quarters of Canada's generation of electricity is from non-emitting sources.
Slide 7 is about nuclear safety. This is a statistic that we're very proud of. Not one single fatality has resulted from radiation exposure at a nuclear power plant in Canada, and that's in almost 50 years of operation. Our safety record is phenomenal.
We have improved performance in safe production, especially in the electricity branch, and you can see how the performance of our facilities is improving. We're becoming a recognized leader in the industry and the world.
We have a very effective regulator. The CNSC is a very strong and very thorough regulator. It controls the industry very well. On international peer reviews, we participate in the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency. As well, in Canada the industries do extensive benchmarking, both nationally and internationally, to constantly improve our performance.
On slide 8 we look at the environmental performance. This is about the total life cycle. If you look at nuclear power as carbon emissions, you'll see that if you start at coal it's 975 g/kWh of electricity, and that's the total life cycle. If you go down the page, you'll see nuclear at 22 g/kWh, with hydroelectric at 19 g/kWh. As you can see, there are very small carbon emissions from nuclear and hydroelectric power.
On slide 9, community support, the nuclear host communities show very high confidence and comfort with the operations in their municipalities and regions. Existing nuclear host communities are strong supporters of additional new nuclear expansion. As well, communities see benefits in environmental, educational, and community services.
On slide 10, the nuclear future in Canada, Ontario selected the Darlington nuclear site to build two new nuclear reactors. The technology decision has been delayed, but the environmental and regulatory process continues.
In Alberta, nuclear is being considered as a non-emitting source. Saskatchewan is interested in adding value to its uranium industry there. In New Brunswick, there is refurbishment of NB Power's Point Lepreau, and as well, new construction is being considered. At Hydro-Québec, they've announced intentions to refurbish the Gentilly-2 plant.
In summary, nuclear power is one of the safest forms of large-scale electricity generation. The Canadian nuclear industry is a major economic, technological and investment provider in Canada. The nuclear industry is an important part of our future.
Once again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the opportunity to make this presentation to you. I hope we've given you a sense of the contribution that the Canadian industry makes to the Canadian economy, the society, and the people.
As one of Canada's key technology and research-based industries, the Canadian nuclear industry will have an important role to play in the future development of the Canadian economy and in the lives of our fellow citizens. From uranium production to electricity generation, as well as medical and consumer-based applications, nuclear has a key role for creating innovation and opportunities in the future.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.