Business View Magazine | August 2022

22 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 8 Modular – making it possible for systems and components to be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation. “SMRs will play a crucial role in decarbonizing Canada’s electricity systems, industrial sectors, and first nations communities,” says Gorman. Fostering and fast-tracking this process is an unprecedented collaboration between the federal and select provincial governments on regulatory and industry levels to develop and deploy SMRs rapidly. Gorman recounts, “The journey began in 2018 with the production of the Canada SMR roadmap, resulting from several years of multisectoral consultations with industry, civil society, and first nations communities to look at how we could best develop and deploy SMRs across the country.” The consultations led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by several provincial premiers, all committed to developing and deploying SMRs in their respective jurisdictions to phase out coal and gas-fired electricity generation. “All stakeholders, including Crown-owned utilities, have committed to implementing a three-stream approach to implementing SMRs,” explains Gorman. “Stream one will involve deploying larger SMRs that connect directly to the electricity grid. Stream two will deploy mid-sized SMRs called Gen IV, which operate at extremely high temperatures to offer multiple applications like hydrogen production and high-temperature steam for mining and cement production. Stream three will deploy micro SMRs for smaller industrial applications and to bring clean energy to northern communities, including Indigenous and First Nations communities that currently rely on diesel for power.” Ensuring public participation, awareness, and understanding of the nuclear industry is crucial (SMRs), an emerging nuclear reactor technology, is showing promise as a viable path to rapid global decarbonization. The International Atomic Energy Agency defines SMRs as advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit, which is about one-third of the generation capacity of traditional atomic power reactors. It identifies two key components of SMRs that give them a unique advantage over traditional reactors: Small – physically a fraction of the size of a conventional nuclear power reactor.