November 15, 2022 – To have realistic hope of meeting its net-zero greenhouse gas emission goals by 2050, Canada needs to embrace more fully small modular reactors (SMRs), the newest innovation of nuclear design, says a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Power When You Need It: The Case for Small Nuclear Reactors,” authors John Richards and Christopher Mabry offer a detailed survey of projections of global and Canadian electricity demand, the costs and flexibility of each green technology. They come to the conclusion that Canada needs to hedge its big bet on solar and wind power by adding SMRs to our electricity mix.
The variable output of wind and solar, absent vastly improved storage technologies, means the world will need anywhere from two to five times as much nuclear power by 2050, according to the UN's International Panel on Climate Change. Over-reliance on the vagaries of wind and sun has already led to system instability in places like California, the authors observe.
Small reactor designs have advantages over the giant complex installations that make up Canada’s current aging 19-reactor fleet.
Many SMR designs keep component size small enough for transport by truck or rail. The buyer receives a fully assembled product that fits into the designated site or comes in several pieces to be assembled on-site. SMRs can be used in tandem. Small towns might use one unit, while metropolitan areas use four or five.
They are also safer – passive emergency shutdown is a feature – and far more flexible than the behemoth reactors in use today. Some designs produce high-temperature steam, ideal for oilsands extraction and desalinization of water. They can also be located close to the ultimate consumer, reducing transmission costs, and are scalable in size, with some designed to produce less than 25 megawatts, which would make it possible to replace the hundreds of diesel generators scattered across Canada’s remote communities.
Importantly, the respected International Energy Agency estimates that cost of power generated by SMRs is probably as cheap as or cheaper than wind or solar electricity.
Canada is not alone in pursuing SMR development. China, US, France, and other nations are pursuing several SMR designs.
“Canada is uniquely positioned as a country with a reliable track record on nuclear since the 1960s,” says co-author John Richards, an Emeritus Professor, Simon Fraser University and Fellow-in-Residence at the C.D. Howe Institute. “We are the second-largest producer of uranium globally. It is estimated that we could support in Canada 70-80 percent of a SMR supply chain, from fuel production to parts manufacturing.”
The federal government could do more to help, he says. Last month’s $970 million SMR commitment from the Canada Investment Bank is welcome, as is the eligibility of SMRs to a green tax credit. However, nuclear is still excluded from Ottawa’s Green Bond Framework and other clean energy funding programs.
“It’s important we don’t put all our eggs in the wind and solar basket,” Richards concludes.
For more information please contact: John Richards, Fellow-in-Residence, C.D. Howe Institute; Christopher Mabry, Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Canada; Laura Bouchard, Director, Communications, C.D. Howe Institute, 416-865-9935, lbouchard@cdhowe.org
The C.D. Howe Institute is an independent not-for-profit research institute whose mission is to raise living standards by fostering economically sound public policies. Widely considered to be Canada's most influential think tank, the Institute is a trusted source of essential policy intelligence, distinguished by research that is nonpartisan, evidence-based and subject to definitive expert review.