I'd have two specific things to say. Certainly there are hazards. No one would say that any technology is free of hazard, and we take great care with the fuel, which even after the reactor is shut down continues to generate heat and has fission products that we need to protect ourselves from.
There are a couple of points I would make. One is that the history, the performance of the nuclear industry, particularly over the last ten years but perhaps fifteen, has been remarkably improved in terms of safety, in terms of performance. In fact, in the U.S. the utilities have increased the effective generation and contribution of nuclear power by the equivalent of about 20 new facilities without any capital investment, simply through improvements and minor investments in the plant.
The refurbishments, the new builds—these projects clearly are long-term in nature; they take ten years from conception to construction. Certainly I would be in total agreement that there are risks associated with them that need to be managed.
The key for us, speaking about Ontario Power Generation, is preparation and planning. When we do a good job in planning and we take the right time to define the scope of the work, the projects are successful.
We have many examples. We manage an outage portfolio, which is about $1.5 billion over a five-year time period, and we bring these projects in on time and on budget. There are clearly some exceptions to that; there are challenges. These facilities, though, generate power for a long time. The new builds have the potential to generate power for in excess of 60 years. That's a lot of reliable full-power operation to essentially anchor the grid to allow for other forms of electricity.
I would never say that there are no risks associated with nuclear power. The question is what the benefit is, whether we can manage it, and essentially whether we are prepared to harness the benefit from it. It's as simple as that.