Construction has commenced on the American-designed GE Hitachi Small Modular Reactor (SMR), not in the U.S. but in Canada. It is being constructed at the Darlington Nuclear site in Ontario, which is already home to a nuclear power station of four Candu Reactors. On May 8 the Canadian Province of Ontario gave the green light for construction to begin. Contracts have been signed with the companies concerned and construction is expected to start forthwith.
The new SMR is the BWRX 300 (Boiling Water Reactor model number 10 producing 300 MW of electricity). The design utilizes the technologies that have already been deployed in GE Hitachi’s most modern large reactors but in modular form for eventual mass production. It is the second American-designed reactor to enter the construction phase. The first is the NuScale SMR which is being constructed in South Korea in cooperation with Doosan, one of the largest engineering companies in South Korea with decades of experience in building nuclear reactors. China is constructing its ACP 100 pressurized water reactor SMR with power output of 125 MW. Russia is already deploying its RITM 200 pressurized water SMRs. With a capacity of 55 MW, they already power Russia’s new fleet of nuclear icebreakers and are now being deployed in Russian Arctic communities and on floating platforms.
The Darlington project is the first of four reactors that will be constructed at the site with the first expected to go online in 2030. The first reactor is estimated to cost US$4.38 billion while total cost of the four units will be $15 billion.
In addition to GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, the main companies involved include Kiewit Nuclear Canada, a subsidiary of the large U.S. based engineering firm, the Kiewit Group and the large Canadian engineering company, Aecon. AtkinsRéalis, another leading nuclear power company, is also involved. A total of 50 companies will be involved with the project.
