It is counting on nuclear energy to be part of its clean energy matrix, which will play an important role in the drastic reduction of carbon emissions. On a per capita basis, Canada’s carbon emissions are in line with those of the USA and higher than in Russia, China and India.
“We don’t see a path on which we will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without nuclear power,” said Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s minister of natural resources. “It is proven, it is tested and it is safe. We are good at this. “
Canada ranks sixth among countries in terms of nuclear power generation, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, based in Washington, DC. Electricity produced from 19 nuclear reactors accounts for 15% of the country’s energy supply. In Ontario, an economic engine with an area larger than the state of Texas, nuclear power is the main source of electricity, with 60%.
At the end of last year, the federal government of Canada established a policy roadmap to encourage the deployment of what are known as small modular reactors, or SMRs. They are a new class of reactors that are built in factories and come in a variety of sizes. They can produce enough energy for a city of just 5,000 inhabitants or for a city of up to 300,000.
“We don’t see a path on which we will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without nuclear power,” said Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s minister of natural resources.
Photograph:
Blair Gable / Reuters
Unlike legacy reactors, which are built on site and large enough to supply a city of a million or more, these smaller versions can be transported and placed where they are connected to the power grid to serve a large region, or meet needs of industrial areas or small towns. Proponents add that SMRs are more efficient in producing electricity compared to legacy reactors, and that their costs make them competitive with fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.
Canadian authorities see small modular reactors as a way to supply electricity to remote indigenous communities in the north, some of which run on diesel. Two western oil-rich provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, rely on fossil fuels to generate most of their electricity, and none of them have nuclear reactors. Both provinces, however, signaled to the Canadian government their interest in implementing small modular reactors as part of an economic strategy and an effort to switch to cleaner forms of energy.
Terrestrial Energy Inc., a company based near Toronto, is developing a 300-megawatt reactor that uses molten salt as a coolant and fuel. The Canadian government has provided the company with 20 million Canadian dollars, the equivalent of about $ 16 million, in funding to help stimulate future research. Terrestrial expects to have its first small reactors ready for deployment by the end of this decade, assuming that regulatory obstacles are eliminated.
The prospect in Canada for small modular reactors has political support, with the federal government and four of the 10 provinces on board with the deployment of the technology. “They believe that these technologies are important to them, to their economy and environmental ambitions,” said Simon Irish, chief executive of Terrestrial Energy.
Some say that small modular reactors and other new designs look good on paper, but have not yet undergone real-world testing. “These are PowerPoint reactors,” said Mycle Schneider, a Paris-based nuclear energy consultant who is critical of the industry. “These are not existing projects on a full scale. It is far from being detailed engineering. “
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Even some supporters of nuclear power say that small reactors with new projects are likely to cost more per megawatt than established projects that bring together large capacity in a single plant.
“It’s a shame, in my view, because you’ve spent all this time, all these years” developing and testing the latest generation of large reactors, said George Borovas, head of nuclear practice at Hunton Andrews Kurth law firm. The original reactors usually experience delays and “are more expensive than you think,” he said.
Terrestrial Energy is one of three companies Ontario Power Generation is working with in hopes of adding small modular reactors at Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, located 45 miles east of Toronto and currently capable of generating 3,500 megawatts, or enough to supply two million homes. Ontario Power Generation, a provincial government-owned concessionaire, is in a separate joint venture with Seattle’s Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp., which is seeking a license to build and operate a 15-megawatt modular reactor in a city of about 125 miles northwest of the capital, Ottawa.
Irish said the next step for Canada is for governments to make more funding available to help emerging companies in the field of small reactors. “This is an important industrial technology for Canada, from a perspective of climate change, jobs and the economy,” he said.
Canada’s natural resources ministry has recognized its financial role in documents advocating nuclear energy, especially small next-generation reactors.
Governments at national and regional levels “have a role to play in sharing risk and reducing the cost of capital,” said the ministry. “Without government support, the private sector may not make the necessary investments to set the stage for an SMR industry in Canada.”
O’Regan, the minister of natural resources, told reporters in December that additional money could be made available in the annual budget plan for 2021. “We can’t get anything off the table,” he said. “I see the world in a very pragmatic way.”
Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected] and Peter Landers at [email protected]
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