Canadian Nuclear Labs Expands Nuclear SMR Siting Program to Seek Future Commercial Opportunities
Offering more proof of how the U.S. neighbors to the north also are taking seriously the promise of future small modular reactor nuclear technologies, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is expanding the scope of its SMR siting invitation program.
CNL believes the expansion will help organizations better follow commercial opportunities for SMR nuclear, which is forecast to be smaller and less expensive than conventional nuclear. Earlier this week, Texas A&M University in the U.S. announced it was dedicating land to four companies pursuing SMR projects.
Nuclear energy is carbon free and a major resource of power generation both in the U.S. and Canada. The rise in construction of artificial intelligence and cloud-based computing data centers is necessitating a need for new power generation to electrify those facilities.
“Through CNL’s ongoing engagements with clean energy leaders in Canada and around the world, it was clear there was an opportunity for us to expand and grow our SMR siting program, in order to support prototype construction and testing for other clean energy technologies,” said Jack Craig, CNL’s President and CEO. “More importantly, Canada has set ambitious domestic targets in clean energy, and if we are to meet them, we must recognize that there is no one solution that will address a challenge of this scale and significance.”
So far, all commercial nuclear facilities are based on fission, which splits atoms to release energy. Experimental and research work is going onto try and scale nuclear fusion, which could be considered less expensive and more capacity in the long run, according to reports.
The CNL’s Clean Energy Siting Program has been expanded beyond fission based SMRs and other advanced reactor designs. It will also invite vendors and technology developers interested in building prototype solutions like fusion-based technologies, hydrogen production, battery storage and clean fuel production facilities, among others.
The aim is to support the Government of Canada achieve its net-zero objectives, help Canadians businesses develop new and innovative technologies, and make CNL’s resources available to the private sector.
As a federal Crown corporation, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) owns and looks after the sites under management by CNL.
“CNL will continue to work closely with SMR vendors who are already navigating our siting program, and it is our hope that we will see an SMR sited at one of the sites we manage on behalf of AECL in the very near future,” added Dr. Stephen Bushby, CNL’s Vice-President of Science and Technology. “But given all the advances that have been realized in recent years across a number of different clean energy categories, it only makes sense that we expand our siting program to support the development of these technologies and do everything we can to bring them to the market.”
As part of the expanded program, applicants pursuing a clean energy demonstration project are required to proceed through four individual stages, though these phases are updated to support the collaborative approach of the renewed program. The projects are expected to be located at the Chalk River Laboratories or the Whiteshell Laboratories site depending on the interest and suitability of the applications.
Both sites are located on the traditional lands, waterways and ceded and unceded territories of Indigenous peoples. While the invitation process does not include access to CNL’s research facilities or other ancillary programs, CNL is open to discussion with proponents regarding collaborative approaches to help advance their individual projects.
Track SMR Nuclear News by Subscribing to ET's free Transition Newsletter
