WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT TO WISCONSIN:

Wisconsin companies offering goods and services for the small reactors may find opportunities in the Canadian market.

Canada is on a path toward employing small modular reactors (SMRs) as a piece of its energy program.

Canada is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and the government says one way it will reach that goal is by installing SMRs—nuclear reactors with a capacity of up to 300 megawatts, a fraction of the size of a standard nuclear power plant.

According to the Canadian Roadmap for Small Modular Reactors, the units are less costly than the large reactors and they have enhanced safety features. SMRs can also be assembled in a factory and transported to the location where they will be installed.

Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan says Canada has a proud history of leading accomplishments in nuclear power. It was the second country to produce nuclear power and is the second-largest producer of uranium. In addition, one-fourth of Canada’s Nobel prizes have been related to nuclear science.

“Quite simply: Canada is really good at this. And SMRs represent the next great opportunity for Canada—helping us to phase out coal and electrify carbon-intensive industries such as mining and petroleum extraction,” O’Regan says.

The government will offer investment tax credits to support a Canadian SMR supply chain and provide funds to help with financing, and it will reduce regulatory delays.

Several projects already are in the works. In Ontario, there are plans to add three SMR units at the Darlington Nuclear Station, and New Brunswick plans to add an SMR that should be integrated into its energy grid by 2030.

O’Regan says he sees “tremendous potential to expand safe nuclear technologies—in Canada and around the world.”