The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[bingun]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

My thoughts...

One roundabout a year is pretty slow, lol. It's interesting the Sandy Point/Foster Thurston one was ranked #3 by priority in the 'original roundabout report' but happened first. Airport was not ranked, Gault/Manawagonish was #4 and Rothesauy/Ashburn was #2 (Millidge/Somerset was #5 and Simm's #1).

Market changes are welcome, but I think a second floor at the Germain end would really negatively impact the look of the market for limited benefit. Hope they rethink this. Seeing the public space along Germain get revamped will be great though.

Shamrock Park plans should include a trail to Rockwood following the transmission lines as mentioned in the North End Plan. Would be a great and dirt-cheap feature to build. Maybe bully NB Power into constructing it. Go from the tennis courts straight to Fisher Lakes near the water tower.

A-Frame and Seaside a decade or more overdue. Can't the city scare up a corporate sponsor or get a nonprofit do a fundraiser for things like the A-Frame?

$3M won't go too far at Simm's, unless they're taking my advice and expropriating the Tim Horton's to connect Main and Fairville. I assume this is just design services.

Lantic Sugar redevelopment will be extremely complicated from a geoengineering perspective alone. Wonder if it's just going to be green space, which isn't too bad.

Thanks for your thoughts. A few comments -

My understanding is that the airport roundabout is a priority due to upcoming development at the airport, including the need for an exit opposite the arterial. However, in the latest news article relating to their new CEO, it didn't sound like land development was his top priority, so I am a little lost. If they do that roundabout first and then nothing happens, it looks rather silly.

For those who haven't been to Seaside Park in a long time, it is a disaster. I have been there a few times in the last two years to access the Shoreline Trail, and it resembles a minefield, with huge craters and deteriorating asphalt.

The A-frame would be an excellent opportunity for a corporate sponsor. The Lorneville folks will kick up a stink if any money from the industrial park doesn't stay there, but you never know.

For Simms Corner, this will be mostly funded by the federal and provincial governments, and I would consider Saint John's contribution a token amount. Off the top of my head, I think they were asking for $240M for all the infrastructure. Hopefully, this pushes things over the line and convinces the feds that the city is on board and that the cash can be used to ensure it is pedestrian-friendly and landscaped, not a highway interchange.

There is only $1M put aside for the Lantic site, and that will barely scratch the surface.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by bingun

Hilton to be rebranded as Saint John Harbourfront Hotel in new year

https://tj.news/saint-john-south/hilton-...aint-john-harbourfront-hotel-in-new-year

Am I correct in assuming that InnVest owns the hotel building but not the land (leased)?

The InnVest VP was quoted in CBC and TJ stories as saying there was only a little more than 20 years remaining on the lease. Is he referring to the land lease or did they lease the building from somebody? Everything I can find online suggests InnVest owns the hotel.

I wonder what happens when the lease is up? Does the building owner just walk away? ( having, I assume, depreciated the structure to zero years ago?) Might they have a right to renew?.....or a responsibility to remove any structures on the land?

If that's the case it certainly would seem to be a deterrent to InnVest spending any significant amounts on building upgrades.

I'm a little fuzzy on how building on leased land normally works. Aren't most ground leases normally 99 years? Anyone know what is common practice?

Would the fact the city was the original owner that entered into the lease make any of the terms public?

FWIW This Reddit thread seems to echo the stories I've heard of how run down the hotel has become......https://www.reddit.com/r/SaintJohnNB/com...be_rebranded_as_saint_john_harbourfront/

[bridgeoftea]

https://ibb.co/PZqDkW8v


I feel like this image would help a lot of people in their discussions about progress of cities.
If this was posted to a Saint John group or even Saint John facebook showing a public transit line going out to the middle of nowhere rural landscape, it would be laughed and criticized. Yet, decades later it fits into the integral part of their city.

If the image doesn't load it's the The Tokyo Metro Tozai line being built in the 60s next to an image of a current view of the location.

[adamuptownsj]

I fed a couple different enterprise-grade AI tools a ton of Simm's Corner info and conditions to see what they would spit out. ChatGPT actually gave an interesting response: a pair of underpasses coming to a roundabout where

-Train overpass at current grade where tracks cross Main, which will be lowered

-Train overpass at current grade somewhat east of current Fairville terminus, also lowered (basically re-grading from the current Harding/Fairville intersection)

-Reduce grade of Lancaster from about where the museum storage facility is

-Single-lane WIDE roundabout pretty much where Norm stands, which would be accessed by all four streets

-Slip lane from Lancaster to Bridge (as there currently pretty much is)

-Slip lane from Bridge to Main

-it deduced no strong need for a Fairville-Lancaster slip lane, and not really the space for one (I agree)

-it also determined a slip lane south of the tracks from the regraded Main to Fairville would require way too much work, given that Harding W already fills this role.

This took a lot of pushing and pulling, but as a layman, it makes sense. Would need a little expropriation but not a frightening amount. Regrading and a little retaining work along the old brush factory perimeter much less intimidating than that draft proposal we saw.

My childlike drawing, complete with crosswalks, sidewalks, and bus stops: https://imgur.com/a/c3hNTvc

[DyAm00394]

Posted this over on the airport thread, thought I share it here too:

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

The new CEO of the Saint John Airport did an interview with CBC Information Morning: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-2...66-meet-president-ceo-saint-john-airport

[sailor734]

Interesting that he kept the focus on increasing flights and seat capacity. Even when the interviewer tried to move to land use and the talked about hotel he suggested that was all just potential and years off. He then immediately went back to talking about adding flights and destinations. Also interesting that he mentioned Ottawa specifically.

[bingun]

I read this article today, and this seems to have come out of nowhere. I am not sure of the best thread, but I will post it here.

A $400M project that boosts the nuclear sector and utilizes a local airport?

Southern NB, near Lepreau, and near an airport. I mean, surely that has to be YSJ or YFC? YSJ is roughly 75KM away, while YFC is almost 130KM.


New Brunswick may be getting another nuclear reactor

https://tj.news/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-may-be-getting-another-nuclear-reactor

New Brunswick may be getting another nuclear reactor, this one much smaller and aimed at producing the radioactive isotopes used for diagnosing and treating diseases like cancer.

U.S.-based Cross River Infrastructure Partners, the developer that has already partnered with the Port of Belledune to pursue a green hydrogen production facility, has announced its intention to build a medical isotope reactor in the province.

It’s likely to be in southern New Brunswick in close proximity to one of the province’s major airports, while also near Point Lepreau.

It’s a location it plans to announce in 2026.

The companies say they are looking to build a two megawatt low-enriched uranium reactor.

For reference, that’s dramatically smaller than the Point Lepreau 660-MW facility, or even small modular nuclear reactors being pitched in New Brunswick that range from 100 to 300 MWs, although still in need of enriched uranium.

It would come at a price tag of roughly $400 million, Wilder said.

The project would be Eden’s second facility, as it’s in the permitting phase of a similar project in New Mexico.

That hopes to be in place by 2030.

The New Brunswick version would then come online 12 to 18 months after that, Wilder said.

Wilder said Cross River and Eden are currently narrowing down potential locations for the project in New Brunswick.

That said, it will be in the southern part of the province near an airport within proximity to the nuclear expertise at Point Lepreau but also UNB.

Edit -

Can you imagine if they tried to put this in the Spruce Lake Industrial Park? I think the Lorneville residents would go apocalyptic.

[cdnguys]

I ran it through AI and it picked Pt Lepreau as the best and most logical site. I won’t post all the reasons, but here is the main one, which makes sense:

Why Point Lepreau / Lepreau Peninsula is a strong candidate
Existing nuclear-licensed site — The Point Lepreau site already hosts NB’s only commercial nuclear reactor. That means the region already has some of the regulatory, safety, and institutional infrastructure (licensing, emergency-planning, experienced workforce, regulatory oversight, security arrangements) required for a nuclear facility. Building new nuclear facilities there is usually faster, safer, and less bureaucratically complicated than starting at a brand-new location.

A new nuclear-licensed site in Fredericton or Moncton would realistically take about:
→ 7–10 years from start to licence approval
(before construction could begin)
Point Lepreau, by contrast, can be used much more quickly because it already has a CNSC nuclear licence and infrastructure.



Also in Eunice, NM where they are building the same plant, they are locating by a company that provides treatment, storage and disposal of radioactive waste. So I wonder if they’d piggy back on pt lepreau npp to dispose of waste since it’s clear the facility they are building doesn’t handle it. Other facts from NM 240 acre site, 100 high paying jobs.

[bingun]

Yes, I was reading about the New Mexico project too. I think we can assume that what they do there will be mirrored here for the most part.

It seems obvious that it would be at Lepreau, so I am not sure why they are being vague about it.

Other than a subsection of folks that are absolutely anti-nuclear no matter what, I think it's hard to find a good reason to oppose this.

Significant investment, good-paying jobs, sustainable industry.

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by bingun

Yes, I was reading about the New Mexico project too. I think we can assume that what they do there will be mirrored here for the most part.

It seems obvious that it would be at Lepreau, so I am not sure why they are being vague about it.

Other than a subsection of folks that are absolutely anti-nuclear no matter what, I think it's hard to find a good reason to oppose this.

Significant investment, good-paying jobs, sustainable industry.

I’m curious about the industry itself. The quick half life, which is a requirement to clear the body quickly, is just a few hours to days. The main one they will produce is Molybdenum which has a half life of 66 hours. So what would they do? Provide services at SJRH or fly them from airport to Boston or NYC on a commercial flight or truck them to radiopharmacies in major USA cities? Or does a specialized company like Pacer air freight fly into YSJ?

[bingun]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

I’m curious about the industry itself. The quick half life, which is a requirement to clear the body quickly, is just a few hours to days. The main one they will produce is Molybdenum which has a half life of 66 hours. So what would they do? Provide services at SJRH or fly them from airport to Boston or NYC on a commercial flight or truck them to radiopharmacies in major USA cities? Or does a specialized company like Pacer air freight fly into YSJ?

I am no expert in this area, but this is the quote from the article. I, too, wonder if they have dedicated flights for this or use existing capacity. It's not like YSJ or YFC have much. Moncton would be too far from Lepreau.

“The reactor will produce these things on a Saturday night, they get sent to a generator and turned into a medicine on Sunday, and then sent to the radiopharmaceutical pharmacy on Sunday night and delivered to the hospital on Monday for an injection at 10 a.m.”

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by bingun

I am no expert in this area, but this is the quote from the article. I, too, wonder if they have dedicated flights for this or use existing capacity. It's not like YSJ or YFC have much. Moncton would be too far from Lepreau.

I am a diagnostic radiologist who has some responsibilities in my hospital's nuclear medicine department.

I find this proposal very interesting. The principal Canadian source for radiopharmaceuticals used to be the research reactor at Chalk Hiver in the Ottawa River Valley. That shut down over a decade ago, meaning we have been competing with other hospitals for a limited supply on the worldwide market. Having a new Canadian source would be tremendous. Right now, if one of the few international producers goes offline for whatever reason, a critical shortage can develop very quickly, leading to cancelled and delayed cases.

The radionuclide most in demand for medical imaging is Technetium-99, which is obtained from a Molybdenum generator as a main byproduct of Molybdenum decay. We normally receive our generators on the weekend and "milk" them for activity during the week to prepare our radiopharmaceuticals.

The generators arrive with a lot of excess activity, so they can easily last a week. Transport is usually not much of an issue except with extremely short lived isotopes like FDG. I would imagine they would fly these products out from the Moncton Airport as we have reliable daily air courier service. It is via these air couriers that we receive our generators at present. In a pinch, they can be flown in the belly of a passenger plane, but, airlines do not like that much. A 90 minute drive up the highway to use pre-existing courier services at YQM is no biggie. It only adds 2 hours of travel time onto a generator designed to last at least a week.

I would agree that the best location for the facility itself would be at Lepreau, since there is a lot of pre-existing expertise here.

[sailor734]

YQM makes sense as Google tells me both Fedex and UPS handle radioactive medical isotopes.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I am a diagnostic radiologist who has some responsibilities in my hospital's nuclear medicine department.

I find this proposal very interesting. The principal Canadian source for radiopharmaceuticals used to be the research reactor at Chalk Hiver in the Ottawa River Valley. That shut down over a decade ago, meaning we have been competing with other hospitals for a limited supply on the worldwide market. Having a new Canadian source would be tremendous. Right now, if one of the few international producers goes offline for whatever reason, a critical shortage can develop very quickly, leading to cancelled and delayed cases.

The radionuclide most in demand for medical imaging is Technetium-99, which is obtained from a Molybdenum generator as a main byproduct of Molybdenum decay. We normally receive our generators on the weekend and "milk" them for activity during the week to prepare our radiopharmaceuticals.

The generators arrive with a lot of excess activity, so they can easily last a week. Transport is usually not much of an issue except with extremely short lived isotopes like FDG. I would imagine they would fly these products out from the Moncton Airport as we have reliable daily air courier service. It is via these air couriers that we receive our generators at present. In a pinch, they can be flown in the belly of a passenger plane, but, airlines do not like that much. A 90 minute drive up the highway to use pre-existing courier services at YQM is no biggie. It only adds 2 hours of travel time onto a generator designed to last at least a week.

I would agree that the best location for the facility itself would be at Lepreau, since there is a lot of pre-existing expertise here.

Thanks for the information, great to hear from someone more familiar with this world.

If it is realistic to fly the products out through Moncton, then that makes a lot of sense, but the article was quite confusing in that regard, between wanting to be near Lepreau, UNB, and the airport. We will have to wait and see what is announced next year.

[bingun]

From OSCO's latest magazine. I think that's been out for a while, but I missed it.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by bingun

Thanks for the information, great to hear from someone more familiar with this world.

If it is realistic to fly the products out through Moncton, then that makes a lot of sense, but the article was quite confusing in that regard, between wanting to be near Lepreau, UNB, and the airport. We will have to wait and see what is announced next year.

I can’t see it being worthwhile going through the regulatory approvals required to set up a second nuclear site in the province, that’s what makes Lepreau so appealing to potential development. They already have the emergency management and response network in place, the SJ hospital is prepared and trained to take patients affected by an incident, the environmental management plans are in place, the communities are already bought into the idea of nuclear and having radiation wardens and pills in their homes, etc.

Even if they are shipped out of Moncton, the 90 minute drive is nothing compared to dealing with all of the above.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

I've created a place holder thread for Point Lepreau, I hope we have some promising developments to come with the medical radioisotope facility, possibly a second CANDU reactor, and perhaps multiple SMRs. I was tempted to label it Saint John, as it's arguable that would be the correct label given the convention we've adopted here on SSP Atlantic Canada, but I feel like Point Lepreau and all future nuclear developments at the site will have an impact province wide, so felt the [New Brunswick] label was more appropriate.

According to a knowledgeable poster on the main Canada forum, Casper, P. Lepreau is the most likely location for the medical radioisotope reactor, but “The hot cells could go out by the airport. That would be similar to what use to exist in Ottawa [in conjunction with the Chalk River reactor]”.


As for the discussion which airport would be used in conjunction with this facility, perhaps all three main NB airports would be utilized. Since the article above specifically mentioned:

It’s likely to be in southern New Brunswick in close proximity to one of the province’s major airports, while also near Point Lepreau.

it will be in the southern part of the province near an airport within proximity to the nuclear expertise at Point Lepreau but also UNB.

With all the talk about land use at the Saint John Airport, I wonder if this proposal would be one of the future uses, as the article does imply imply that being located close to an airport is even more important than being located close to Point Lepreau. Perhaps they'd even have multiple sites, some closer to Point Leprau, some closer to an airport.

A Combined Fredericton-Saint John Airport located within the CFB Gagetown would be quite the perfect place for this type of proposal, as it would check off all the boxes... secure, close proximity to Point Lepreau, promixity to both UNB campuses, and would be the largest, newest airport in the province. Come on Carney, this would totally be a project of national interest.


Anyways, I'm always looking forward to hearing about these promising nuclear developments for NB.


I posted this in the Point Lepreau thread. It's an aerial photo/ rendering of Moltex's WATSS system proposed for Point Lepreau:



It shows just how much room there is out there for CANDU expansion and other related nuclear developments. It's unclear if Saint John's two local nuclear companies (Arc Inc. and Moltex Canada) are still on track to build their proposals that were selected by NB Power or not, but I'm cautiously optimistic that they will prove their many doubters wrong.

It's a very unique advantage that New Brunswick has a nuclear generating station, and NB is the only province with a nuclear power plant outside of Ontario. It would be great for the future of the province and the maritimes as a whole to see further expansion and nuclear developments take place in New Brunswick.


Edit: also created a thread in the Canada Current Events forum on this proposal for a medical radioisotope reactor.

[cdnguys]

Moltex is pretty much washed up. Their office is now a former laundromat in the south end. Their parent company in UK is under administration. ARC has issues and their CEO left, and NBPower not sure when, or if, they will ever be ready. I think NBPower will just partner with Ontario to build a new reactor.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Moltex is pretty much washed up. Their office is now a former laundromat in the south end. Their parent company in UK is under administration. ARC has issues and their CEO left, and NBPower not sure when, or if, they will ever be ready. I think NBPower will just partner with Ontario to build a new reactor.

I heard Moltex's UK parent company is at risk of insolvency, but it's good to hear they are still hanging on.

I agree that NB should build a second CANDU reactor at Point Lepreau (and partnering with Ontario could make sense), but how much money has the GNB and NB Power already invested in Moltex Canada and Arc Inc's proposals?

Moltex is saying their WATSS waste recycling system could still be built at Point Lepreau if they can get another firm to build the SMR at Point Lepreau.

Ideally, we will see both a new CANDU reactor, and multiple SMRs built at Point Lepreau... along with Moltex's waste recycling system.

If Moltex's recycling system can be proven to be successful at Point Lepreau, it could open quite a huge door for a Saint John company to get involved with nuclear waste recycling in Ontario, who's 18 CANDU reactors have produced a lot more nuclear waste over the years than Point Lepreau's lone CANDU reactor has.

[adamuptownsj]

Denny Cogswell, Fundy Shores mayor, posted this on Facebook directed to MLA Ian Lee and MP John Williamson:

Few meetings today and lots of discussions around our energy file.

I believe fundy shores needs to be at the table regarding nuclear, we have asked for months. Fundy shores for 40 years has held the social license and safety infrastructure in place for nuclear. Our region and province needs energy long term and a candu, small modular reactors can provide that stability . We need politicians at all levels with vision to start making long term investments . Discussions have been had for far to long, now is the time for action.

Why or what can be done to have medical isotopes produced and/or processed within fundy shores. We can (i believe)meet a global demand and become a first world class production facility!

Why has fundy shores not been brought into discussions? We need to be on a level playing field .