Canada’s Aecon Group and Norway’s Norsk Kärnkraft have signed a three-year strategic cooperation agreement to advance the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) in Norway, with a particular focus on the GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor design.
The agreement builds on Aecon’s role as main contractor for Canada’s first grid-connected BWRX-300 reactor under construction at the Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario. Aecon will contribute its expertise in the implementation of nuclear power projects, engineering, constructability, modularisation and delivery models, and will offer valuable insights from the Canadian experience to support SMR development in Norway.
Norsk Kärnkraft, Norway’s first private developer of nuclear power, will contribute its deep understanding of the Norwegian market, regulatory landscape and project development. The partnership will jointly define a roadmap to support feasibility studies, licensing processes, stakeholder management and site identification. Norsk Kärnkraft has already identified 10 potential locations across Norway where environmental assessments will start, and is also engaging Norwegian companies to assess how their expertise can be applied in the nuclear power sector.
“Partnering with Norsk Kärnkraft marks an exciting step forward as Norway develops its SMR program to deliver reliable, affordable and flexible energy,” said Aaron Johnson, Aecon Group Senior Vice President for Nuclear. “From advanced manufacturing and automation to lessons learned and best practices, we are proud to bring our nuclear expertise to support the critical steps of this newbuild programme.”
Norsk Kärnkraft CEO Jonny Hesthammer said the agreement “represents an important step towards building strong international partnerships that can accelerate the development of SMRs in Norway”. He added: “Aecon’s experience with Canada’s first BWRX-300 project provides valuable insights as we navigate Norway’s regulatory and political landscape. This collaboration supports a growing interest in nuclear power and marks an important step towards delivering clean, affordable and safe energy for Norway.”
Norsk Kjernekraft has established several subsidiaries throughout Norway and had signed a raft of agreements with various municipalities for the construction of SMR-based NPPs. It has also signed memoranda of understanding a letters of intent with several nuclear start-ups. These include Denmark’s Seaborg Technologies to investigate the possible deployment of Seaborg’s compact molten salt reactor design in Norway; US X-energy developing the Xe-100 high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor design; Swedish nuclear energy company Blykalla, with its SEALER (Swedish Advanced Lead-cooled Reactor) design; France’s Hexana, which is looking to design a fast neutron and sodium heat transfer reactor; and Ocean-Power, which is looking to develop SMRs for barges.
