The federal government unveiled its Small Modular Reactor Action Plan on Friday, throwing its weight behind efforts to develop nuclear power technology.
The plan, which outlines the efforts to deploy SMRs across the country, includes more than 100 chapters from stakeholders across Canada detailing their plans for SMR development.
One of those chapters was written by SaskPower, which says it plans to recommend moving ahead with SMR planning phase work in the province in 2021. The planning phase would span eight years.
“This work would be required to enable deployment of small modular reactors in Saskatchewan in the early to mid-2030s,” SaskPower said in a media release Friday.
“SMR development is a key objective in the province’s 10-year Growth Plan, with the potential to create a nuclear industry in the province.”
In June, Saskatchewan established the Nuclear Secretariat, the primary mandate of which is to develop a plan to deploy SMRs in the province.
The premiers of Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick signed a memorandum of understanding last December to work together on the development of the technology. The hope is that it will generate electricity without greenhouse gas emissions and help support economic growth.
Saskatchewan’s goal is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
In that vein, SaskPower also is examining options such as interconnections with neighbouring jurisdictions, increased carbon capture and storage technology, renewables and other low- or zero-emission power sources.
“SaskPower is evaluating the full range of power sources to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and continue to provide reliable, cost-effective power to our customers,” SaskPower president and CEO Mike Marsh said in the release.
“We are looking forward to working with and learning from other utilities across Canada like Ontario Power Generation as they advance their first-of-its-kind SMR project.”
The federal SMR Action Plan includes chapters written by provinces, territories, municipalities, industry leaders, vendors, academia and Indigenous organizations. The plan can be viewed at here.