Ottawa (Canada), October 26: The Canadian federal government's policy bank said on Tuesday it has committed 970 million Canadian dollars (776 million U.S. dollars) toward the country's first small modular reactor (SMR).
The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) said it has finalized an agreement with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to develop and construct the 300-megawatt SMR next to OPG's existing 3,500-megawatt Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, Ontario.
The CIB-financed Phase 1 work would cover all preparation required prior to nuclear construction, including project design, site preparation, procurement of long lead-time equipment, utility connections, implementation of a digital strategy, and related project management costs, the bank said, adding that this is its largest investment in clean power to date.
The Darlington SMR will be one of the first ever developed and is expected to spearhead similar projects in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta, with interest also growing in the United States and Europe.
The project would also support Canadian efforts to become a global SMR technology hub in a market estimated to be 150 billion Canadian dollars (120 billion U.S. dollars) per year by 2040, CIB said.
Once fully constructed by the end of this decade, the SMR will avoid approximately 740,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, equivalent to the emissions of nearly 160,000 gas cars, CIB said.
SMRs are a new class of nuclear reactors which are approximately 300 megawatts or less, have a smaller footprint and a shorter construction schedule, compared to traditional nuclear generating stations.
Energy experts said there is no path to bringing the world's carbon emissions to zero by 2050 without nuclear.
Source: Xinhua