The Saskatchewan Government has released its First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan outlining the path for a reliable and affordable power future. “The Government of Saskatchewan is committed to a nuclear future utilising our amazing Saskatchewan uranium resource to power our province and provide a secure energy future,” said Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison in a statement.
The government unveiled its plan at Cameco headquarters in Saskatoon. Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said he’s pleased to see the province’s commitment to introducing nuclear energy to the province. “Jurisdictions around the world are turning to nuclear power to address the pressing issues of energy security, national security and climate security,” Gitzel said. “Nuclear energy – fuelled by Saskatchewan uranium – can provide reliable, carbon-free baseload power to help meet increasing electricity demands into the future.”
While Canada’s federal government has announced plans to phase out coal power generation, the 16-page Saskatchewan plan describes coal power as a “secure bridge” as it works to establish nuclear generation. “Ending coal-fired generation by 2030 would risk the reliability and affordability of the provincial electrical system.”
The plan said keeping coal power generation running past 2030 has a number of benefits for the province. “Saskatchewan’s coal-fired units have averaged between 79-86% availability over the past decade. Comparatively, intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar can be available as little as 20-25% of the time.”
SaskPower has already established a partnership with GE-Hitachi on their BWRX-300 small, modular reactors (SMRs), but the provincial government said Saskatchewan will continue to look at large-scale reactors and other advanced small reactors to meet its growing demands for power.
In the section, Nuclear Power as the Future, the plan says: “Saskatchewan is committed to building a provincial electricity system powered by nuclear energy. Global innovation in the nuclear field now makes it feasible to add nuclear power generation to the Saskatchewan electrical grid. Through this Strategy, the provincial government reiterates its commitments to nuclear power communicated in the provincial Growth Plan and the Interprovincial Strategic Plan on small modular reactors.
The Government of Saskatchewan will:
- continue to examine the feasibility of two SMR units near Estevan;
- evaluate the feasibility of large reactors and/or advanced SMRs to meet industry demand for electricity and heat to identify if either can be economically deployed in Saskatchewan.
“SaskPower is working through its subsidiary, SaskNuclear, on licensing to deploy the grid-scale GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR in Saskatchewan. The provincial utility is engaged with Ontario Power Generation, an experienced nuclear operator, to learn from Ontario’s deployment of the first BWRX-300 reactor at its Darlington site in 2030.”
According to the plan: “The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is invested in developing micro-reactor technologies. These comparatively smaller reactors (typically 5-15 MWe) are most suited for individual community or industrial site demands. SRC Nuclear seeks to advance global knowledge of the development and deployment of nuclear micro-reactors for industrial decarbonisation as well as community and commercial use.”
It is “essential that provincial Crown corporations and ministries work closely together on planning, public engagement, investment attraction, regulatory and intergovernmental coordination for nuclear power”. This means strengthening and broadening coordination in areas such as supply chain and workforce development, emergency planning, environmental review, and complementary infrastructure.
This all requires clear roles and responsibilities. The Government of Saskatchewan will:
- coordinate provincial nuclear policy, in alignment with government-wide policy for energy security and economic growth, to ensure sufficient oversight and governance, investment attraction, supply chain and workforce development;
- conduct a governance review to determine the optimal provincial structure and mandate for nuclear power ownership, operation, and deployment within and beyond the provincial electrical grid.
The plan notes that the development of nuclear power in Saskatchewan “could create a new industry that generates billions of dollars in annual economic activity for the province, but will require prudent decision making, careful assessment of long-term benefits and costs, planning, and the discipline to adhere to budgets and timelines”.
It notes: “As Saskatchewan bridges to a nuclear future and builds the infrastructure to move this new source of electricity to businesses and homes, it will enhance provincial sustainability. The province will reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a pace that prioritises reliability and affordability for energy security.” The plan includes a call for the federal government to pay 75% of the cost of the province’s first nuclear reactor.
Saskatchewan also hosted the inaugural Canadian Nuclear Association-West conference in Saskatoon. “Here in Saskatchewan, we are going to have power generation from nuclear power sources in Saskatchewan. That is a formal decision that this government has made,” Minister Jeremy Harrison told a press conference at the opening of the meeting.
During the conference, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced that SaskPower will invest CAD6.3m ($4.48m) over the next six years to establish four new nuclear research chairs at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina. In addition, CAD3m will be invested in the Fedoruk Centre for research chairs at Saskatchewan Polytechnic and the First Nations University of Canada.
The funding will be used to develop training programmes for students for technical careers in the nuclear sector, and for research in how to use Indigenous knowledge for construction, licensing and operation of nuclear power facilities. “This is a commitment and a further testament to this province’s ability to participate at all levels in the nuclear outbuild that we know needs to happen,” Moe said.
Following his speech, Moe said Canada and North America must determine their own energy security through the development of nuclear power. “If we truly are going to be secure as a continent, despite challenging current conversations with the United States of America, we are going to have to be energy secure as a continent (and) nuclear power is going to certainly be part of that.”
