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The provincial governments of Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick joined forces to evaluate the potential of small modular reactors (SMRs) — SaskPower has now settled on GE-Hitachi’s Boiling Water Reactor X-300 (BWRX-300).
The SMR technology selection, announced on June 27, does not mean that SaskPower will definitely be adding nuclear generation to the province’s grid. However, the selection is an important milestone in exploring such an option.
“We’ve been evaluating technologies since 2019,” explained Scott McGregor, a spokesperson for SaskPower. “There’s a number of factors we assessed for the three technologies that we initially started looking at. Safety, technology readiness, fuel type, waste costs, things like that.”
The three technologies under consideration were the X Energy 80 megawatt (mW) high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, potentially scalable to 320mW; the BWRX-300; and an integrated molten salt reactor from Terrestrial Energy that could generate 195mW.
McGregor said that SaskPower has worked extensively with an engineering consulting company as well as with Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which is Canada’s oldest and largest nuclear power operator.
OPG announced their partnership with GE-Hitachi in 2021. The Darlington Nuclear Generating
Station, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, is currently the first and only approved SMR site in Canada. A timeline for the construction of a 300-mW BWRX-300 calls for the SMR to begin producing power as early as 2028.
Saskatchewan will not release an SMR decision until 2029 at the earliest.
“Ultimately, the final decision whether or not we’re going to proceed with nuclear power won’t be made until 2029,” McGregor said. “There’s a very lengthy and intricate regulatory process to obtain the licenses to be able to operate a nuclear facility.”
SaskPower must reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier. Nuclear power is the cleanest and safest form of energy globally.
If the province does decide to develop nuclear power, a reactor could be online by the mid-2030s.
The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is concurrently studying very small nuclear reactors (vSMRs, essentially sea can-sized nuclear batteries) in partnership with Westinghouse Electric Canada. Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactor has a tiny footprint, powers up in only a month, and can generate five mW of electricity and 13 mW of heat for eight to 10 years before needing to be refueled.
“We’re not the first people moving forward with this technology,” McGregor said. The development of SMRs in other countries and provinces, particularly Ontario, will be closely watched as the regulatory process continues.
Everything about the nuclear concept requires a significant amount of rigor and detail, McGregor said. The licensing takes as long it takes — it can’t be accelerated. Nevertheless, the environmental advantages of nuclear power have made the tech a focus for governments worldwide. Ongoing research means that SMRs will progressively cost less, have shorter constructions times, and become even safer to operate.
“This is an important milestone as Saskatchewan works towards a cleaner, more sustainable future,” Don Morgan, Minister responsible for SaskPower, said in a release. “Conducting an independent and comprehensive evaluation while also collaborating with the other provinces on the SMR Strategic Direction has been extremely valuable in reaching this important milestone to potentially bring nuclear power to Saskatchewan.”
