‘I have not seen a credible plan for net zero without nuclear as part of the mix,’ Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan told a nuclear conference
OTTAWA – Canada must expand its nuclear power capacity if it is to reach its climate targets, the Minister of Natural Resources said Thursday. Speaking to the Canadian Nuclear Association’s annual conference, Seamus O’Regan said the industry has to grow.
“As the world tackles a changing climate, nuclear power is poised to provide the next wave of clean, affordable, safe and reliable power,” he told a packed room.
The Ottawa conference was the largest the industry has run with dozens of companies and more than 900 people in attendance. Provincial cabinet ministers from Saskatchewan and Ontario were also there. Those two provinces, along with New Brunswick, signed a memorandum in December to work together on small modular reactor technology.
Small modular reactors are units that produce less power than large generating stations, but can be constructed easier and are expected to be safer to operate. Canadian firms have about a dozen of the proposed reactors working their way through the regulatory process.
The smaller reactors could be used in groups to replace large units, but the industry also hopes to use them in rural or isolated communities, mines or even oilsands projects, potentially replacing the diesel power generators some remote communities use.
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