“I think it’s something to be excited about,” says Arthur Situm, the Canada Research Chair in small modular reactor safety and licensing at the University of Regina.
A Saskatchewan researcher says nuclear energy is going to play a large role in the prairie province’s energy sector.
“Things are looking pretty positive for Saskatchewan,” said Arthur Situm, the Canada Research Chair in small modular reactor (SMR) safety and licensing at the University of Regina. “I think it’s something to be excited about.”
The university recently received a portion of $11 million in federal funding to be put toward clean energy projects and research in nuclear waste management. From that funding, $2.5 million will be split between the U of R and the University of Alberta for SMR research. The remaining $8.5 million will be divided between seven Alberta companies doing work in the area of hydrogen.
“This isn’t a pressing concern by any means,” said Situm. “There’s very little waste and it’s stored in such a way where it’s not going anywhere. But eventually, if Canada is to dispose of some of this waste within a deep, deep geological repository, then that’s where my research would come into play.”
Situm says the energy used to power the average Canadian home for a lifetime would amount to a pop-can-sized amount of waste that can be stored easily for an incredibly long period of time. But he added that Canada is committed to eventually building more permanent, long-term storage.
While SMRs cost a lot to build, the payoff is well worth it, the researcher argued. Next to hydropower, nuclear energy would be the cheapest and most efficient energy source for Canadians when it comes to monthly energy bills, he added.
Situm said it can also help diversify and decarbonize power grids across the country.
“It’s the way Ontario was able to get entirely off of coal, through large amounts of nuclear energy,” he explained.
The development of Ontario’s first SMR is currently underway and is scheduled to be connected to the province’s grid by 2027. Three additional SMRs are planned to be in service by 2035.
Situm said all eyes will be on Ontario as it deploys its first SMR.
“(Larger reactors) produce far too much power to be effectively absorbed by the Saskatchewan grid, so it’s not really an option,” he said. “I think other jurisdictions will likely be looking very carefully at how the project unfolds in Ontario for that reason.”
Saskatchewan isn’t expected to decide whether it will even build SMRs until 2029, with an operational plant not in the cards until the early- to mid-2030s. SaskPower has remained firm that 2050 is a more realistic goal to achieve net-zero power generation for Saskatchewan, rather than the federal target of 2035.
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