Saskatchewan Taps Into 40 Years of Nuclear Industry Expertise and Experience

Released on April 29, 2024

To help enable nuclear development in Saskatchewan, SaskPower and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) have joined the CANDU Owners Group (COG) as members. 

Both SaskPower and SRC will gain access to research, technical workshops and peer groups focused on environmental and regulatory affairs, nuclear safety, used fuel management and emergency planning.

In 2018, COG expanded its mandate to include advanced technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors, in recognition that its collaboration model is beneficial to non-CANDU technologies.

"Leveraging nuclear expertise and industry experience is an important part of SaskPower's SMR development work," Minister Responsible for SaskPower Dustin Duncan said. "The insight provided by other Canadian nuclear utilities and key international nuclear organizations will be incredibly valuable ahead of our decision in 2029 whether to proceed with nuclear power from SMRs."

SaskPower has been a participant in COG's SMR Technology Forum since 2019, and through that participation, has collaborated with Canadian nuclear utilities on various topics including regulatory considerations, licensing, fuel supply, used fuel management and nuclear power plant safety.

"Today's announcement is another milestone for Saskatchewan in advancing the safe and sustainable introduction of nuclear technologies into the province, including SRC's microreactor project," Minister Responsible for SRC Jeremy Harrison said. "SRC's decades of experience in the nuclear sector, coupled with access to the experience and resources of Canada's leading technical nuclear experts, will be of significant benefit to our province."

SRC is pursuing the licensing and demonstration of a microreactor in Saskatchewan. Microreactors can be deployed in remote areas to generate industrial heat and electricity for various applications. SRC will work with communities, industry and Indigenous groups to advance microreactors in the province.

SaskPower and SRC are the first new utility members of the CANDU Owner's Group in over two decades and join other Canadian organizations including Ontario Power Generation, Bruce Power, New Brunswick Power and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.

"With four decades of experience fostering nuclear industry collaboration, COG looks forward to helping Saskatchewan achieve their clean energy goals," COG President and CEO Rachna Clavero said. "Through these memberships, SaskPower and SRC are gaining access to the most innovative research along with industry intelligence, best practices and supply chain development, while enabling cost savings through resource pooling." 

COG's 40-years of expertise and experience will enable SaskPower and SRC to collaborate on potentially developing new technologies, evaluate new approaches and participate in providing unique perspectives into the Canadian regulatory framework.

For more information, visit www.saskpower.com/nuclear and www.srcnuclear.ca.

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