People in northern Saskatchewan are of two minds about a possible nuclear power station in their region.

A consultant's report prepared for SaskPower and obtained by CBC earlier this week named Lac La Loche as one of two regions where a nuclear reactor might be located.

The chief of the Clearwater River Dene First Nation likes the idea, because of the potential boost to the local economy.

"Personally speaking, I think it's beginning to make some sense," Chief Roy Cheechum said. "If you're going to have tarsands developments which is going to need a certain amount of energy to develop and to extract, and if you're going to be going further and developing uranium mines, then wouldn't the third piece be a nuclear power plant?"

However, La Loche Mayor Georgina Jolibois worries about environmental impacts on her town and the surrounding area, and says she can't support a nuclear plant.

"It's such a big, big initiative," she said. "I would like to be able to preserve the land, I would like to be able to preserve the wildlife, the lakes and everything."

The Lac La Loche area was considered in the report because it's near a potential oilsands development in the northwest.

The nuclear reactor proposal was for a cogeneration plant that would produce electricity and steam, with the assumption that the electrical output would be half that of a Candu 6.

Environment, cost, weather considered

The study looked at environmental and cost factors, cooling-water requirements, exclusion zones, seismology, transmission systems, weather and geotechnical conditions.

Ultimately, the Lac La Loche area was not seen as the best choice. Instead, the Stantec Consulting report identified the Lake Diefenbaker region as the preferable option.

The province says that if a nuclear power plant were to be built, it would not be by SaskPower.

Instead, according to Crown Corporations Minister Ken Cheveldayoff, the government will be working with the private sector to see "what is appropriate."