SASKATOON – The big news from SaskPower last week is that they are not stopping at small modular reactors as their nuclear future.
At a news conference Wednesday in Saskatoon, SaskPower and Minister for Crown Investments Corporation Jeremy Harrison confirmed that the provincial Crown utility is moving forward with assessing and evaluating large-scale nuclear reactor technologies.
President and CEO of SaskPower, Rupen Pandya, told the audience this will build on the province’s energy security strategy and “will leverage our natural uranium resources to prepare for rising electricity demand and future export opportunities, which could generate revenue for our province.”
Pandya and SaskPower also have little time to waste, as Pandya said large reactor projects typically take between 15 and 20 years from early planning to operation. “That is why this work needs to begin in earnest today.”
This will be in addition to and in parallel with the project for small modular reactors that is currently underway. Pandya called SMRs the first step, while large reactors will “support our long-term regional solution to power in Western Canada.”
Now the work begins towards evaluating and selecting the large-scale nuclear design that will be the best fit for Saskatchewan, said Pandya. He said they will be looking at the latest designs, including proven technologies such as Westinghouse's AP1000, EDF's European Pressurized Reactor and, of course, the CANDU Reactor Designs.
“Safety, cost, proven project delivery and technical fit, such as water supply, site footprint and nuclear fuel supply, will be taken into consideration as part of this evaluation. Equally important is how this project could deliver lasting economic benefits to Saskatchewan, including building a local workforce and supply chains right here at home. Our target is to identify a preferred reactor design later this year and after that we will require years of siting, regulatory and extensive engagement with Indigenous rightholders and the public before construction can begin on a new project.”
They are looking at large-scale nuclear because of the growing need for power generation. Harrison told reporters they were estimating demand “could double over the course of the next 25 years. So a twin large-scale nuclear facility at 2,000 megawatts would be about a quarter of that grid.”
But there are a number of considerations in that process. One that was indicated at the news conference is that there are only a limited number of nuclear designs to choose from. Harrison acknowledged he expects that the three designs Pandya mentioned – the EPR-1400, the Westinghouse AP1000 and the CANDU design – would be the designs that would be submitted.
As for the regulatory process and the potential site location where such a large-scale reactor would go, Harrison said the “site themselves would be a separate determination from the technology.”
As for where the sites would be, Harrison said he would not “presuppose or prejudge” where those would be. But he told reporters that process would be initiated after the technology selection process.
“There are different requirements. I mean, you know that the thermal capacity of reservoirs is a significant issue. So, that's going to be a part of the consideration after we do the actual technology selection as far as siting. So, I don't want to presuppose any of that.”
Harrison also told reporters he has been “encouraged by the degree of support from the Government of Canada in the nuclear space.”
He said it hasn't always been that way and he is encouraged by that. He said he views the sector as nationally unifying
"I think that the Government of Canada view it that way as well — for industrial development in Ontario to the existing expertise that exists in that jurisdiction, the existing expertise that exists in New Brunswick, the uranium industry that exists here in Saskatchewan, and potential for very real value-add across the country all through the nuclear supply chain. I think this is really an area that doesn't push us apart. I think nuclear is something that really could bring us together as a country.”
Challenges ahead
But there are challenges. One that Harrison pointed to is that in Canada they could not actually enrich uranium.
“We're a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and because of that we are not, without the agreement of basically the rest of the world, in a position to enrich uranium. That's not going to come. I mean, other countries have gone down this path, and it's been a difficult one. So, that being all said, I mean, Canadian companies play an important role in the nuclear supply chain, including in fuel enrichment right now, given the fact that Cameco is a very, very significant player and is a 51 per cent owner of Westinghouse, using enriched uranium. So, the degree of integration in this industry in North America, I think, is probably a bit different than some other industries in the space.
“So, you know, I would say that we're going to look at all of the technologies that come as a part of this process equally.”
Cost in the billions
Another issue is cost. It was pointed out at the news conference that an expenditure for two large nuclear reactors would be the biggest expenditure that Saskatchewan had ever done, in the billions of dollars.
Harrison acknowledged there are “still open questions about what the actual construction cost is going to be,” and that they were working very closely with OPG “as far as the Darlington project and what the first-of-a-kind cost is going to be. TVA, Tennessee Valley Authority, are working through this as well with their BWRX…"
Harrison believed they were “going to have a higher degree of certainty probably more quickly on the large-scale nuclear, given the backstop that the U.S. government has put in place for a large-scale nuclear, particularly on that AP1000 design.” There were also other jurisdictions such as China who were basically “building clones of the AP1000” for “what they claim are $2 to $3 billion a reactor.”
“But I think that there is going to be a degree of clarity that is much higher in the short-term on both the SMR and on the large-scale nuclear projects.”
Harrison also emphasized he did not think there should be an assumption that the government was “going to pay for every dollar of a nuclear reactor either.” He pointed to the nuclear project happening in the United Kingdom as being 75 per cent financed by non-government organizations, including Canadian Pension funds. He also committed to having a “significant Indigenous ownership component to that.”
NDP unimpressed
It was an unimpressed reaction from NDP critic for Sask Power Aleana Young to the large-scale nuclear announcement this past week. On Thursday in Regina, Young said she was “not sure how much of an announcement it really was.”
Young said the government is already a year behind in their existing plan to build SMRs.
“By my read, Jeremy Harrison and (Premier) Scott Moe are the only politicians who think that the solve for not being able to get a small reactor built in time is committing to build a big one… I'm not sure how much of an announcement it is to say we're maybe going to be considering another form of nuclear for the future when we're already, by my count, a year behind in the schedule for our small reactors.”
Young also pointed to the government hitting Saskatchewan residents with two power bill hikes in the next 12 months, and to the government having borrowed over $800 million of taxpayer money to “backfill (Harrison’s) mismanagement at SaskPower.”
“This sounds like more of a distraction from the current mess that he's made at SaskPower than any real substantive announcement at this point.”
