Federal, provincial investment bringing nuclear research into Saskatchewan

A joint investment between Ottawa and Sask. will see a SMR safety, licensing and testing centre at the University of Regina. Donovan Maess reports.

Saskatchewan’s nuclear research sector is getting a big boost from both the federal and provincial government.

Through SaskPower, $4 million will be invested to help the University of Regina establish Western Canada’s first small modular reactor (SMR) safety, licensing and testing centre. Ottawa is also pumping $1.96 million into the build, while the province is adding $1 million of ‘in-kind’ investment by providing the space for the facility for free.

“It’s been decades since [Saskatchewan] ushered in the development of uranium mines,” Liberal MP for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, Buckley Belanger, told reporters Monday.

“This is just a natural evolution to looking at the small nuclear power option that would utilize that world-class uranium,” Belanger said.

“This nuclear space is an area where we can have cooperation across the country,” said minister responsible for SaskPower, Jeremy Harrison.

“That really will be a unifying factor,” he said.

“Saskatchewan uranium, Ontario experience. Beyond that, the need and requirement to have baseload power generation, and in significantly increased quantities, over the course of the next 20 years.”

How it works

At the centre, researchers will use two different test loops to simulate real-world SMR conditions.

Putting the system through various different tests, they will be able to analyze the data it produces and better understand what an SMR may be able to do.

“Fundamentally, you’ve got two loops filled with water. They’re pressurized, they’ve got a certain flow rate going through them,” said Arthur Situm, the university’s research chair of SMR safety and licensing. “You’re looking at how two components are behaving.”

The creation of the facility also brings nuclear research and development into the province ahead of its goal to build an SMR in Saskatchewan.

“It’s fantastic,” Situm said. “These types of test facilities are something that was really the role of Western Canada within the nuclear supply chain for a long time.”

“The scaling analysis that goes into making it as close to the actual conditions you can get is very tricky and very, very precise,” he added.

Powering Saskatchewan’s future

Despite having some of the largest high-grade uranium deposits in the world, Saskatchewan does not generate any nuclear power, relying instead on coal, natural gas and varied renewable energy sources to feed the grid.

Aging infrastructure and growing power consumption are pushing SMRs to the forefront of SaskPower’s future plans.

“The hope with small modular reactors is once you’re through those first hurdles, in terms of building, you will be able to introduce modularity,” president and CEO Rupen Pandya said. “That will drive down costs for reactors for anyone going to go down that path.”

This test facility will create 18 direct jobs and support 10 small businesses, the university says.

Situm hopes bringing nuclear research into the province opens the door for essential training in the sector on the home front.

“Being able to build up the talent beforehand really well positions the overall province to make good on its investment when that actually if it comes to place,” he said. “It ensures you’ve got suppliers and knowledge in the local ecosystem in place, well before you make that final investment decision to maximize the dollars that you’re spending.”

Pandya added that SaskPower remains on schedule for the implementation of nuclear power to its grid.

“We’re still on the same projected timeline,” he said Monday. “We’re looking for mid-2034 as the timeline for development, and that’s really because the regulatory process we are engaging in right now will take us out to about 2029.”

“We should begin construction in ’29 and that will bring us into power in 2034,” Pandya added.

It is estimated 2,500 to 3,500 jobs will be required to build and operate nuclear power plants by the mid-2030s.

“Saskatchewan has much to offer,” Belanger said. “[The federal government] has indicated time and time again. And this is one example that we wanted to recognize today, that research into SMRs provides so much opportunity in the future for other things.”

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