A well-known former Greenpeace activist and nuclear power advocate says Saskatchewan should have its own nuclear power generators.

Patrick Moore, a B.C.-based consultant who spoke at a Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday, spent 15 years with Greenpeace, but he now rejects the modern environmental movement.

He thinks nuclear power can reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and calls the Saskatchewan government's policy hypocritical.

"Well, it seems to be actually rather ridiculous to have a province which is exporting uranium to the rest of the world … for the operation of nuclear power technology that then has an anti-nuclear stance against having its own nuclear technology," said Moore.

Glen Viekle, deputy minister of the Industry and Resources Department, took issue with Moore's comments, saying the government has, in fact, invited companies to find new ways of expanding the uranium industry.

When the province introduced its "green plan" earlier this year, it proposed expanding wind and solar energy, and other alternative energy sources. The plan said Saskatchewan's uranium industry plays a role in helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world, but did not propose a nuclear power plant for Saskatchewan.

Moore, who runs a consulting company in B.C. called Greenspirit Strategies, was hired last year as co-chair of the pro-nuclear public relations campaign, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.

The U.S.-based coalition is funded by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade association for companies that operate nuclear reactors.