Energy Minister Mel Knight said Monday there will be no moratorium on nuclear energy plants in Alberta. (CBC)Alberta will not stand in the way of the construction of nuclear power plants, Energy Minister Mel Knight said Monday, following the release of a telephone survey that suggests 45 per cent of Albertans want nuclear plants approved on a case-by-case basis.

"There'll be no moratorium," Knight told reporters at the Alberta legislature.

"We are not proponents of nuclear energy. We're not working with any company to build nuclear energy. … We're saying that we need power, and proponents that want to build in the system in Alberta are welcome to do so."

In the government-commissioned telephone survey, 45 per cent of respondents said they wanted projects considered on a case-by-case basis, 28 per cent opposed any proposals for nuclear power plants in the province, 19 per cent felt the province should encourage proposals and eight per cent said they didn't know.

In the intial voluntary online and mail-in survey, about 55 per cent opposed proposals for nuclear plants, about 28 per cent felt the province should encourage proposals and 16 per cent felt projects should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

However, unlike the telephone survey, the results of the voluntary survey are not considered to be a statistically valid sample of Albertans.

The random telephone survey of 1,024 Alberta residents was conducted from July 8 to 20 by Innovative Research Group, Inc. The poll has a margin of error of 3.06 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The surveys were part of Alberta's nuclear power consultation that was launched earlier this year after an expert panel in March identified issues around nuclear power but made no recommendations about the direction the province should take.

Plans for 1st nuclear power plant in Alberta

There are no nuclear power plants in Alberta. Bruce Power is working on a proposal to build a plant about 30 kilometres north of Peace River, in northern Alberta.

NDP legislature member Rachel Notley says the government is ignoring what Albertans want by allowing nuclear plants in the province. (CBC)Any prospective applications would go through the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, where proponents would have to hold public hearings, Knight said. While Alberta does have the power to put a moratorium on nuclear power, Knight said the province isn't going to do that.

"This is a really disappointing outcome for Albertans," NDP MLA Rachel Notley said.

Even though the government engineered the consultation process to get a certain outcome, Notley said, the results showed many Albertans are still concerned about the launch of nuclear power in the province.

"If this government was really interested in listening to Albertans, what they would do is they would close the door [on nuclear power]."

The questions in the telephone survey were developed after an initial consultation period that involved discussion groups with 193 people in 10 communities, an online and mail-in workbook that was completed by another 3,615 people, and consultation with community, business, environmental and First Nations groups.

With files from The Canadian Press