Small modular reactors: Driving energy security with nuclear power
February 26, 2024
February 26, 2024
The energy transition can leverage small modular reactors to provide a strong, clean baseload generation capacity and complement renewable energy
As we push forward with the energy transition, experts from around the globe are coming together to develop thoughtful solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues. The most obvious challenge we face is continuing to power our communities while reducing the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions being released into the atmosphere. But in trying to solve this problem, other challenges arise. How can we deliver clean energy to regions that can’t generate it? How can we secure the water supply needed for large-scale hydrogen production? And most importantly, how can we establish a reliable energy grid with the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power?
Traditional fossil fuel-based power generation, while a significant emitter of GHGs, provides a reliable baseload generation capacity for our energy grids. Reliability is essential to communities and promotes confidence in our energy infrastructure. But as part of the energy transition, we are reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and moving towards cleaner forms of energy like wind and solar. However, these forms of energy are intermittent in nature—the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine. So how can we reduce emissions while ensuring a reliable grid? One answer is small modular reactors (SMRs).
SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors that can help us generate reliable, consistent power while emitting no GHGs. This is why they are such a hot topic with utilities right now. In Canada, we are seeing multiple provinces adopt SMRs as they move away from traditional fossil fuels. Ontario has embraced SMRs and is leading the way on project development. Saskatchewan is planning enough SMRs to potentially provide a surplus of energy within the province. And my home province of Alberta isn’t far behind, especially after a series of winter cold snaps in January 2024 almost compromised our energy grid. These events led Alberta’s Energy Minister to announce the exploration of SMRs in the province.
SMRs are important to me in my role as Nuclear Lead at Stantec. But in knowing that many people might not know a lot about the technology—or the benefits it can bring us—I thought it would be helpful to review SMRs and how they can help us provide reliable power to communities while driving the clean energy transition forward.
Before I get into the history of SMRs, let’s call out the elephant in the room: nuclear power. When most people think of nuclear power, they probably think of the catastrophic failure in Chernobyl. And that’s not unfair—the tragedy of Chernobyl had massive consequences that are still reverberating today. But for the sake of this discussion, let me be clear: SMRs are safe and meltdowns like what happened in the past aren’t possible with this new technology. According to experts from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), most new SMR technologies “improve safety over existing reactors by employing passive safety systems that do not rely on electrical power sources or operators’ intervention to function during accidents.” They are inherently walk away safe and present far less risk than traditional nuclear plants.
SMRs generate power from nuclear fission, a process in which atoms of uranium (and in some cases plutonium) are split. This process creates thermal energy that generates steam to spin turbines and produce electricity. Scientists first generated electricity from nuclear fission in the mid-1950s. Early SMRs were used on naval applications like submarines and warships for decades. Then in 2007, nuclear scientists at Oregon State University invented the first commercial SMR. Since then, companies have been hard at work trying to implement SMRs at scale, working with local governments to make this nuclear dream a reality.
However, there are a few barriers to overcome.
Now that we got through some of the perceived challenges facing SMRs, let’s review some of the key benefits that these facilities can bring to localities that embrace the technology.
SMRs not only provide energy security, but also social, economic, and environmental benefits.
The clearest benefit of SMRs is energy security. They give us the ability to generate consistent, clean power—24 hours a day, 7 days a week—as we move further away from fossil fuels and towards renewable sources of energy. Also, SMRs don’t depend on site characteristics like excess wind or sunlight. They can be installed anywhere and plugged into the electrical infrastructure we’ve been using for decades.
But there are other benefits to adopting an SMR program as well. Let’s review a few of them below:
SMRs are relatively new compared to most of our traditional energy infrastructure. And the technology will only continue to evolve as we embrace this innovation, and the markets will follow accordingly. Here are a few main types of SMRs currently in use:
The transition away from fossil fuels and towards sources of renewable energy is part of a positive mission to protect the planet for future generations. But we also must ensure a reliable, resilient electrical grid that can deliver power to communities when they need it. Wind and solar generation generally can’t achieve that alone, and that’s where SMRs can provide incredible value to our energy infrastructure.
SMRs not only provide energy security, but also social, economic, and environmental benefits. They can be put to use anywhere, and they can especially help us to power rural, remote, and Indigenous communities who aren’t tied into the grid. A significant investment? Yes. Significant positive outcomes? Definitely.
SMRs should continue to part of the discussion around energy security as we push forward with the energy transition. And it is my hope that after reading this blog, you will feel more familiar with this technology and more open to exploring the development of your own SMR program.
Want to learn more? Reach out to me directly.