Small Modular Reactors Poised To Play Large Role in Canada’s Energy Future
William Cook is a professor and Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering, and Director, Centre for Nuclear Energy Research at the University of New Brunswick.
The world is transitioning away from power generation from carbon-based resources. This is no longer aspirational — it’s a global reality in response to the consequences of climate change caused by emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Countries around the world are actively planning, researching, and investing in infrastructure to power transportation, industry, and electricity production in new ways.
We’ve made great strides in recent years in the development and deployment of renewable energy sources. Wind and solar now make up an important and growing part of our energy future, both in Canada and around the world. However, the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. These intermittent energy sources still require consistent, reliable, and clean base load and back-up power generation.
Like many other regions of the world, New Brunswick and most provinces in Canada currently use a combination of coal, gas (including combined cycle) and nuclear to supply this base load capacity. Of these, nuclear is the only non-carbon emitting energy source.
This is why countries with northern climates like ours, advanced or growing industrial power needs, or those investing in high-efficiency district heating and electricity infrastructure are looking to small modular reactors (SMRs) to back-up their variable renewable energy supplies.
Heavy industrial users could replace oil and gas with SMRs to power energy-intensive industrial processes. Remote communities like those in Canada’s Arctic could use SMRs to replace their current reliance on diesel fuel. The demand is there and the technology is rapidly developing to meet it.
Nuclear isn’t without its drawbacks. Many of us equate nuclear power with large capital costs, licensing and engineering challenges, long lead times, cost overruns, and the legacy of used fuel that remains radioactive long into the future. But SMRs are not the reactors we grew up with. It’s those very drawbacks that SMR developers are making great strides in addressing.
Over the past couple of decades, international research and development efforts and private companies have produced SMR designs that are inherently safe to operate and propose to re-use legacy fuel from the current generation of reactors to power them, reducing the need for thousands of years of nuclear waste storage to hundreds.
SMRs are intentionally being designed for modular production in a safe, controlled, and efficient factory environment, drastically reducing both the cost to produce them and the risk of cost overruns traditionally associated with nuclear power. The prospects and benefits of SMRs are real but we need to move into the next stage of R&D to fully vet their promise.
Canada, and New Brunswick in particular, has an immense opportunity to leverage existing expertise and R&D infrastructure to solidify our position as global leaders in the carbon-free power market. The federal government took initial steps to make this happen in 2018 when they released a road map for Canadian implementation of SMRs and, more recently, signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Kingdom (March 2020). This year, the SMR roadmap is being upgraded to Canada’s Small Modular Reactor Action Plan.
New Brunswick is in the ideal position of already having some of the foundations for testing, validation and market launch for a global economic opportunity. So much so that the international nuclear research community has taken notice.
New Brunswick has long been a stalwart contributor to Canada’s nuclear supply chain, both in terms of supplying components and people expertise. We have a cluster of highly specialized experts in nuclear technology, mature college and university education programs with research facilities, and seaports with ample available room for eventual modular factory production and export.
In 2018, New Brunswick committed $10-million to create an R&D cluster for SMR development. Two leading SMR developers — Moltex Energy and ARC Nuclear Canada Inc – established offices in Saint John and each contributed an additional $5 million to the research cluster.
The University of New Brunswick is participating in the cluster as a centre for advanced nuclear engineering research and teaching. Late last year, the governments of New Brunswick, Ontario and Saskatchewan signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in the development of new, cutting edge nuclear power generation. The Canadian players in this industry have been identified and New Brunswick is on the starting line-up.
Our roots in the nuclear sector run deep. UNB has had a dedicated nuclear research centre since 1992, working with both industry and academic institutions around the world on applied research projects that are then implemented in the field.
Along with full-time chemical, instrumentation and controls experts, we have established testing facilities with fully automated test loops that simulate the heat transport systems of nuclear reactors. In March 2020, UNB signed a letter of intent with Bangor University in Wales to work together on the development of SMRs and we have integrated ties with other Canadian universities who are actively involved in nuclear research and teaching.
The fight against climate change represents the biggest economic and social challenges of our time but it could also represent one of our biggest economic opportunities. The transition away from a carbon-based economy is happening and there is a growing demand and acceptance for the role of nuclear in a carbon-free world.
History has taught us that in times of disruption, those who act first reap the most benefit. It’s time for New Brunswick to act with purpose and urgency, alongside our Canadian partners. When it comes to small modular nuclear technology, the world definitely needs a little more Canada.
Huddle publishes commentaries from groups and individuals on important business issues facing the Maritimes. These commentaries do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Huddle. To submit a commentary for consideration, contact editor Mark Leger: [email protected].