Has Moe leaked word that Estevan is getting the province’s SMR?

Premier Scott Moe may have let the cat out of the bag on where SaskPower’s small modular reactor project is likely to be located.

During his address at the Food Fuel Fertilizer Global Summit held by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Moe spoke of the opportunities Saskatchewan has to “harness uranium right here at home in our province, as we look at providing that surety of electricity supply in the future.

“That’s why SaskPower is actively looking at small modular reactors being placed, quite likely, in the Estevan area — but I don’t think that’s been announced yet.”

That line raised some eyebrows among those in the audience at the Delta hotel in Regina, as SaskPower had up to now focused on two possible locations for an SMR in the Estevan and Elbow areas. Back in Sept. 2022, SaskPower had announced they selected two areas in Saskatchewan for further study to host small modular reactors: one being a 40-kilometre radius around the Boundary/Rafferty Dam and a 40-kilometre radius around Grant Devine Dam to the east in the Estevan; and the area around Lake Diefenbaker from Gardiner Dam to Diefenbaker Dam near Elbow.

Decisions on narrowing down the potential location is not expected until later this year, and a final decision on SMRs is not expected until 2029.

Opposition Critic Aleana Young was at the Food Fuel Fertilizer summit. At the Legislature later in the afternoon, she was asked about Premier Moe apparently letting slip the potential location.

“I was listening closely to the Premier’s comments, obviously and unclear on whether that was a formal announcement or not. Certainly the community of Estevan will be thrilled. It’s a community that’s been dealing with a huge amount of economic uncertainty,” said Young, pointing to the pending phaseout of coal.

“If the Premier is making these promises I suppose I hope they’re true for the community of Estevan, and I also think it points to some of the concerns that we’ve raised around whether or not these timelines and commitments that SaskPower is making publicly are real.”