Canada Rising --Changing Global Nuclear Leadership

Post date: Nov 24, 2019 6:04:53 PM

Russian and Chinese leadership aspire to double worldwide nuclear capacity by 2050. Rosatom has over $100 billion in orders spread over various countries. China, while sustaining the largest domestic new-build program in the world constructing 11 reactors, is building nuclear power plants in Pakistan and Romania, and financing the construction of new nuclear in the United Kingdom. These state-sponsored pacts involve multi-decade relationships in matters vital to the economic well-being of both parties. Russia and China are filling the void left by the US and Europe and assuming the mantle of global leadership when the need for carbon-free generation is growing, and the technology is ripe for improvement. The economic and strategic benefits of monetizing another country’s power sector have been demonstrated by Russia’s control over European natural gas supplies. Replication of this model with nuclear power across non-aligned countries may bind them to Russia for generations.

Current efforts to promote nuclear power within the US, include state level subsidies for existing plants, production tax credits for plants, and Department of Energy (DOE) loans and grants. Specific efforts to promote distributed nuclear generation include DOE partnering with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems to facilitate the building a small reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory and investigating requirements for contracting with a commercial entity to site, construct, and operate at least one NRC licensed micro-reactor at a DoD facility by December 31, 2027.

In Canada, there are no federal subsidies for existing nuclear plants. Though nuclear R&D is not specifically targeted in national efforts to promote innovation, several new nuclear start-ups have received Canadian government grants. A recent ‘roadmap’ exercise engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including aboriginal communities, industry, non-profits, and other levels of government.

Canada’s proactive efforts have resulted in 10 advanced reactor companies engaging in their high-level design review process. Some of these advanced reactors are technologies first tested in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the NRC has currently lost the technical knowledge and administrative processes necessary to license these types of reactors.

In general, the regulatory climate in Canada can be described as less expensive and more agile than the US regulatory climate. However, the Canadian regulatory scheme requires more frequent license renewals and updates to meet current design codes and standards.

More important than the regulatory climate, is the fact that Canada currently holds much greater market potential for small reactors than the US. Given the recent acquisition of Westinghouse by the Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management and its active involvement with cutting edge advanced reactor designers, Canada is positioning itself to assume a greater role in global nuclear leadership and become the leading alternative to Russia and China in the global nuclear marketplace.

Alastair McIvor and Donald Harker are Senior Consultants at Modus Strategic Solutions. Mr. McIvor is a long-time member of the Canadian nuclear industry whose work has included leadership roles in nuclear operations and the implementation of the corporate governance framework. Mr. Harker’s experience includes contract transformation of the US National Nuclear Security Administration and various nuclear utility engagements.