Why does Saskatchewan want small modular nuclear reactors?
Province has portrayed the reactors as path to net-zero
Saskatchewan wants to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, despite the federal government's insistence it be reached by 2035. The province's solution is nuclear power.
SaskPower says there are no immediate plans to pursue larger nuclear reactors. Instead, it's exploring the implementation of small modular reactors (SMRs).
SMRs have never been deployed in Canada, but Saskatchewan is among several provinces exploring using them.
Estevan has been identified as the location for a potential nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan, but a final decision on whether an SMR will be built in the province is not expected until 2029. If approved, construction could begin as early as 2030, with the first SMR in Saskatchewan becoming operational as soon as 2034.
What is a small modular reactor?
SMRs, like all nuclear reactors, use fission to produce energy.
An SMR is not a single specific type of reactor. It's a catch-all term that describes a "vast number of technologies," according to Dave Novog, a professor of engineering research at McMaster University.
"Some are cooled with exotic coolants like molten lead. Some look very much like a large reactor, just scaled down. So they come in all shapes and sizes," Novog said.
SMRs are physically smaller than existing technology and have smaller outputs. The International Atomic Energy Agency considers reactors to be small if their output is under 300 megawatts. That's enough to power 300,000 homes and roughly one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power generators.
The "M" in SMR stands for "modular," or made up of modules. That means they'll be assembled in pieces in factories and transported by flatbed trucks or trains to where they are needed.
SaskPower has already partnered with GE Hitachi on the design, fuel-sourcing and fabrication for a BWRX-300 reactor, the type that was originally selected in 2022.
While SaskPower is looking at SMRs to supplement larger population centres and industrial sites, the Saskatchewan Research Council is exploring nuclear-powered microreactors for remote northern communities. Microreactors can produce 20 megawatts of energy, have a lifespan of eight years, and could power up to 5,000 homes in remote areas.
The province pledged $80 million for the research council to pursue licensing fees for nuclear projects.
The Saskatchewan Research Council has selected a eVinci microreactor, which will be built by Westinghouse Electric Company.
If everything goes to plan, the microreactor will be operational by 2029. A location has yet to be selected.
What currently exists?
Just two provinces currently use nuclear power plants in Canada.
New Brunswick has Point Lepreau and Ontario has three plants: Pickering, Darlington and Bruce. Nineteen nuclear power reactors are split between the four locations.
All of the existing nuclear reactors operating in Canada employ Canadian deuterium uranium (Candu) reactors.
The technology, which was first deployed in the 1960s, uses uranium as fuel and heavy water, or deuterium, as a coolant and moderator.
The existing Candu generators produce between 500 MW and 600 MW, depending on the model.
No new large nuclear plants have been built in Canada since the Darlington plant came online in the early '90s.
As of 2021, nuclear power generation accounted for approximately 14 per cent of Canada's electricity, according to Natural Resources Canada.
How will SMRs be different?
Novog said the biggest difference between the country's existing Candu technology and the SMRs being considered in Saskatchewan is that the new reactors will rely on enriched uranium.
The existing Candu reactors were developed with a conscious decision to not use enriched uranium, according to Novog. In the 1960s it was decided that Canada should not be reliant on another country to serve as a source of enriched uranium.
Canada does have vast reserves of uranium, but does not enrich it.
"It's not a technology that we've chosen to pursue," said Novog.
Most SMRs do use enriched uranium, which will require Saskatchewan to purchase it from other countries such as the United States, France or the U.K.
Arthur Situm is the Canada Research Chair on SMR safety and an assistant professor at the University of Regina.
He said the province will have time to build up the knowledge and expertise needed as the new SMRs are being built.
"If you're thinking about what [Saskatchewan Research Council] is going to have to do in terms of hiring, SaskPower, Westinghouse, Cameco, there's a lot of opportunities there. And so it's really great to be at the forefront of that, trying to train up the next generation of students to work in this industry," Situm recently told media.
Situm and two other researchers at the U of R received $580,000 in funding from Innovation Saskatchewan to advance nuclear science and subatomic physics.
Situm will use $200,000 from Innovation Saskatchewan to study rust and corrosion prevention on nuclear reactors.
Why does Saskatchewan want this?
SaskPower says large nuclear reactors would put too much of the province's power generation in one spot, which would mean too big an impact on the province's grid if there were planned or unplanned outages there.
That's why SMRs are "well suited" for Saskatchewan, the Crown corporation says.
"They match the size of our largest existing generation units," said SaskPower.
Novog agreed, saying that having new generators be the same size as what they're meant to replace will make it easy to manage the power grid.
"If you tried to build a very extremely large Candu reactor in Saskatchewan, the grid might not be able to tolerate such a very large source of electricity in one specific location," Novog said.
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