- Saskatchewan Commits $80M for Westinghouse eVinci SMR
- BHP to Consider SMRs for Giant Potash Mine in Saskatchewan
- SaskPower Commits to Small Modular Reactors
- Canada’s ARC SMR Developer Inks MOU with South Korea’s KHNP
- AtkinsRealis Announces New CANDU Nuclear Plant Design
Saskatchewan Commits $80M for Westinghouse eVinci SMR
- $80 Million (CAD) Microreactor Plan Will ‘Open Door’ To Deployments Across Saskatchewan
- Funding is for demonstration of a Westinghouse eVinci plant
(NucNet) The premier of Saskatchewan in Canada has announced $80 million (CAD) in funding for a first nuclear microreactor that could be operational by 2029 and will “open the door for future deployments across the province.”
The funding was awarded to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) to pursue the demonstration of a Westinghouse eVinci microreactor in Saskatchewan.
Westinghouse Conceptual Image of the eVinci SMR
SRC said it will apply the research and knowledge gained from the licensing and deployment of an initial microreactor to support the Saskatchewan nuclear industry to better understand this type of technology and the potential for future microreactor projects in the province.
“This project has the opportunity to be transformative for our economy, industry and communities,” premier Scott Moe said.
“Microreactors provide a custom solution for Saskatchewan’s unique energy needs.”
Westinghouse said in a press statement that “the location of the eVinci microreactor will be determined as the project progresses.” It added that the surrounding infrastructure for an eVinci plant is less than two thirds the size of an ice hockey rink.
SRC president and chief executive officer Mike Crabtree said SRC’s vision is to see the first eVinci microreactor in an industrial application and lay the groundwork for many more projects in the future.
The eVinci is classified as a transportable microreactor capable of producing 5 MW of electricity, over 13 MW of high temperature heat, or operating in combined heat and power mode. It will use TRISO fuel enriched to 19.5% U235.
eVinci Licensing Progress
In February 2023 Westinghouse began the Vendor Design Review process with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in June of this year. The company is seeking regulatory joint-review on a few aspects of the technology with the CNSC and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The licensing effort is funded, in part, by a $27M (CAD) grant from the Canadian government.
Westinghouse recently also received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to plan for the location of the eVinci Nuclear Test Reactor at Idaho National Lab. The test reactor, a one-fifth scale representation of an actual eVinci microreactor, will enable design finalization, testing and licensing of the technology.
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BHP to Consider SMRs for Giant Potash Mine in Saskatchewan
BHP is considering nuclear energy to power what will be the world’s biggest potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, in a move that would help the Australian mining giant achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2050.
BHP is investing more than $US10 billion in the Jansen potash project, making it the single largest project currently under construction at the group. By 2026, the company expects to start producing more than 4 million tonnes of the salt and potassium compounds processed into fertilizer used to boost crop production at a time when global supplies are under pressure due to the war in Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain producers.
BHP will need a lot of energy for the mine that extends 1 km underground to what is essentially an ancient seabed of three-to-five meter thick seams of the potash nutrient.
The company has already developed a plan to have more than 80% of its underground equipment and vehicles go electric, further reducing its carbon footprint.
The company is also looking to switch from other fuels to further reduce emissions, including natural gas which is used to generate heat in the processing of the potash.
Simon Thomas, BHP’s Saskatchewan-based vice president of Projects Potash, said every energy technology possible, including small modular reactors, would be considered to power the mine to make it emissions-free and more cost-effective.
“We will look at whether or not other fuel sources can be used as a method of generating heat – that’s something that is out there for us to look at and consider,” Thomas said.
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SaskPower Commits to Small Modular Reactors
- The utility announces partnership to develop small modular nuclear reactors
SaskPower announced a partnership agreement with Ontario Power Generation and Laurentis Energy Partners to establish a strategic partnership for the development of nuclear power reactors.
Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower, said the “master services agreement” is a five-year plan and that all three partners are committing to building a clean energy future to help streamline small modular reactors (SMR) development in the province.
“To have an agreement that allows us to tap into that expertise and knowledge from a jurisdiction and organizations that have a great deal of expertise and history in the nuclear sector is critically important for Saskatchewan to be able to carry forward with us,” Duncan said.
Duncan said SaskPower is in year three of an eight-year process, and it is targeting 2029 to be the time when it will decide whether to go with SMR.
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Canada’s ARC SMR Developer Inks MOU with South Korea’s KHNP
ARC Clean Technology (ARC), Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co (KHNP), and New Brunswick Power (NB Power) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration opportunities for the commercialization of ARC’s advanced SMR technology in Canada, Korea, United States and for other export opportunities.
The opportunities for collaboration to be explored under the MOU could include participation in current and future projects by providing specific expertise for the design, construction, project management, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of ARC’s advanced small modular reactor in multiple countries.
Since 2018, ARC and NB Power have been working together on the development of the ARC-100, a modular, advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor that will generate at least 100 megawatts of electricity.
The project, at NB Power’s existing Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station, submitted a license to prepare site application in June 2023 and is expected to be the first deployment of an on-grid advanced SMR facility in Canada.
KHNP operates 25 nuclear power units in South Korea and supplies approximately 30% of the electric power within the country. The company has also constructed 4 nuclear power units in United Arab Emirates. KHNP operates internationally, with offices in New York, Washington, Paris, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi and Prague.
About ARC Clean Technology
ARC Clean Technology (ARC) is a clean energy technology company developing the ARC-100, an advanced small modular reactor (aSMR). The ARC-100’s modular design provides 100 MW of electricity and industrial heat that will be cost competitive with fossil fuels. (Technical Summary Document – 42 page PDF file)
Important applications include the decarbonization of heavy industry, the fueling of low-carbon hydrogen projects, and the creation of life-saving medical isotopes.
The ARC-100 has been selected by New Brunswick Power for implementation on their Point Lepreau site with completion by the end of this decade. ARC Clean Technology has offices in Saint John, New Brunswick and Washington, DC.
About KHNP
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd (KHNP), Korea’s largest power generation company that produces about 30% of domestic electricity with 25 nuclear power plants, 37 hydropower plants (including small-scale hydropower plants), and 16 pumped-storage hydropower plants, new and renewable energy such as solar power, wind power, and fuel cells.
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AtkinsRealis Announces New CANDU Nuclear Plant Design
(NucNet) AtkinsRealis has announced a new Candu nuclear reactor design that it says meets the dual demands of net zero and energy security while ensuring Candu technology remains “front and center” amid growing interest in nuclear energy around the world as part of the clean energy transition.
Generic Conceptual Image of a CANDU Reactor. Image: Wikipedia
The company, part of Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group, unveiled the Candu Monark nuclear power plant at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris.
The Monark is in the definition phase, AtkinsRealis said. It said it is the most advanced reactor design with the highest output of any Candu technology at 1,000 MW.
AtkinsRealis said the Monark offers an economically attractive product to utilities looking to deploy new nuclear power at scale. It has an improved cost per megawatt-hour and a longer operating life of 70 years than existing units.
AtkinsRealis said the Monark will continue the ability of Candu technology to produce medical grade life-saving radioisotopes. Ontario’s existing Candu reactors produce 50% of the world’s supply of the Cobalt-60 isotope.
As part of its “future-thinking design”, the Candu Monark reactor can integrate a clean hydrogen production plant and storage facility into a nuclear station and use surplus heat from the plant to make hydrogen generation more efficient.
Ian Edwards, AtkinsRealis’s president and chief executive officer, said AtkinsRealis is the original equipment manufacturer and steward of Candu pressurzsed heavy water technology, developed in Canada in the late 1950s and 1960s.
In September, the Canadian government agreed to provide export financing to support two additional Candu reactors in Romania. These additional plants at the Cernavoda site would take nuclear power’s share of Romania’s electricity production to 36%.
According to the Canadian Nuclear Association, there are 34 Candu plants globally, 30 of which are operable. Nineteen of those plants are in Canada with the rest in Argentina, China, India, Pakistan, Romania and South Korea.
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