The governments of Ontario, New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan released a strategic plan providing a path forward to advance small modular reactors (SMR) in the country.

SMRs are expected as the next evolution in nuclear innovation and technology. Their benefits are linked to the nature of their design – small and modular. SMRs can be sited on locations larger nuclear power plants cannot be. Prefabricated units of SMRs can be manufactured before being shipped and installed on site, making them more affordable than large power reactors.

The provinces’ plan outlines five priority areas for the development and deployment of SMRs:

1. Technology readiness: The strategic plan notes Canada’s early adoption of SMRs would position the country as a global nuclear technology hub, jumpstarting new economic and job growth through three SMR development streams:

Stream 1: a 300 MW SMR project constructed at the Darlington nuclear site in Ontario. In December 2021 we reported that Ontario Power Generation (OPG) selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) to supply a BWRX-300 SMR for the site. The project could be completed as soon as 2028.

The strategic report adds that subsequent units in Saskatchewan would follow, with the first of those SMRs projected to be in service in 2034.

Stream 2: two fourth-generation, advanced SMRs would be developed in New Brunswick. ARC Clean Energy is targeting a deployment date by 2029, with Moltex Energy aiming to have both its spent fuel recovery system and reactor in operation by the early 2030s, both at the Point Lepreau nuclear site. ARC and Moltex Energy, along with New Brunswick Power, partnered in 2020 as part an SMR vendor 'cluster' at Point Lepreau, which currently houses a 660 MWe Candu 6 reactor. 

Stream 3:  a new class of micro-SMRs designed primarily to replace the use of diesel in remote communities and mines. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear are combining on a five MW gas-cooled demonstration micro-reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, with plans to be in service by 2026. Global First Power estimated that one MMR could replace 200 million liters of diesel at a mining site over 20 years.

The report also notes Bruce Power and its partners at the Nuclear Innovation Institute have also been exploring opportunities with the Westinghouse Canada eVinci micro reactor. In October 2020, Bruce Power and Westinghouse agreed to pursue applications of eVinci, with initial deployment in Canada targeted for the mid-2020s.

• Regulatory framework: The strategic plan noted regulatory changes and clarity will be needed to ensure reasonable project costs and timelines for investor and operator approvals.

• Economics and financing: The plan calls for a robust federal funding commitment to continue advancing SMR development and deployment. It notes the growth of SMRs in Canada and around the world will drive increased uranium demand, providing new opportunities for uranium produced in Saskatchewan and potentially Alberta, and increased utilization of refinery and conversion facilities in Ontario.

• Nuclear waste management: According to the plan, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is working to identify a geologic storage depository for Canada’s used fuel waste. The provinces said twenty-two communities initially expressed interest to host the site and two potential sites in Ontario are still being considered, with safety assessments and community engagement ongoing. The NWMO is planning to select a single preferred site in 2023, with operations expected to begin between 2040 and 2045.

• Indigenous and public engagement: The plan emphasizes the need to create opportunities for Indigenous communities to participate in SMR projects. These opportunities could include employment, skills development, investments, or supplier arrangements.

As the general nuclear landscape goes, Canada currently has close to 20 commercial reactors generating about 13 GW in capacity, dominated by its home-grown CANDU design. According to the World Nuclear Association, about 15% of Canada’s electricity comes from nuclear.

OKUMA, Japan (AP) — Eleven years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was ravaged by a meltdown following a massive earthquake and tsunami, the plant now looks like a sprawling construction site. Most of the radioactive debris blasted by the hydrogen explosions has been cleared and the torn buildings have been fixed.

During a recent visit by journalists from The Associated Press to see firsthand the cleanup of one of the world’s worst nuclear meltdowns, helmeted men wore regular work clothes and surgical masks, instead of previously required hazmat coveralls and full-face masks, as they dug near a recently reinforced oceanside seawall.

Workers were preparing for the planned construction of an Olympic pool-sized shaft for use in a highly controversial plan set to begin in the spring of 2023 to gradually get rid of treated radioactive water — now exceeding 1.3 million tons stored in 1,000 tanks — so officials can make room for other facilities needed for the plant’s decommissioning.

Despite the progress, massive amounts of radioactive melted fuel remain inside of the reactors. There’s worry about the fuel because so much about its condition is still unknown, even to officials in charge of the cleanup.

Nearly 900 tons of melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors, and its removal is an unprecedented challenge involving 10 times the amount of damaged fuel removed in the Three Mile Island cleanup following its 1979 partial core melt.

The government has set a decommissioning roadmap aiming for completion in 29 years.

The challenge of removing melted fuel from the reactors is so daunting that some experts now say that setting a completion target is impossible, especially as officials still don’t have any idea about where to store the waste.

Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa said recently that extra time would be needed to determine where and how the highly radioactive waste removed from the reactors should be stored.

Japan has no final storage plans even for the highly radioactive waste that comes out of normal reactors. Twenty-four of the country’s 60 reactors are designated for decommissioning, mostly because of the high cost needed to meet safety standards set up in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake caused a tsunami 17 meters (56 feet) high that slammed into the coastal plant, destroying its power supply and cooling systems, causing reactors No. 1, 2 and 3 to melt and spewing massive amounts of radiation. Three other reactors were offline and survived, though a fourth building suffered hydrogen explosions.

The spreading radiation caused some 160,000 residents to evacuate. Parts of the surrounding neighborhood are still uninhabitable.

The melted cores in Units 1, 2 and 3 largely fell to the bottom of their primary containment vessels, together with control rods and other equipment, some possibly penetrating or mixing with the concrete foundation, making the cleanup extremely difficult.

Probes of the melted fuel must rely on remote-controlled robots carrying equipment such as cameras and dosimeters — which measure radiation — because radiation levels in those areas are still fatally high for humans.

In February, a remote-operated submersible robot entered the Unit 1 primary containment vessel, its first internal probe since a failed 2017 attempt. It captured limited images of what are believed to be mounds of melted fuel rising from the concrete floor.

Probes have moved ahead at Unit 2, where TEPCO plans to send in an extendable robotic arm later this year to collect melted fuel samples.

TEPCO Chief Decommissioning Officer Akira Ono said in a recent online interview that robotic probes at Unit 1 and 2 this year are a major “step forward” in the decades-long cleanup.

“It’s like we have finally come to the starting line,” Ono said. “Before, we didn’t even know which way we were supposed to go.”

Ono said the Unit 2 melted fuel test removal will start from a granule or two, all of which will be sent for lab analysis, meaning a storage facility won’t be necessary until larger amounts are hauled out. Even a tiny amount would provide valuable data for research and development of fuel and debris removal technology for all three reactors, he said.

Hideyuki Ban, the co-founder of the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center who previously served on government nuclear safety panels, proposes the underground burial of solidified treated water for stable long-term storage, while entombing the three reactors for several decades — like Chernobyl — and waiting for radioactivity to decrease for better safety and access for workers instead of rushing the cleanup.

Since the disaster, contaminated cooling water has constantly escaped from the damaged primary containment vessels into the reactor building basements, where it mixes with groundwater and rainwater that seep in.

The water is pumped up and treated, partly recycled as cooling water, with the remainder stored in 1,000 huge tanks crowding the plant. The tanks will be full at 1.37 million tons by next spring, TEPCO says.

The government has announced plans to release the water after treatment and dilution to well below the legally releasable levels through a planned undersea tunnel at a site about 1 kilometer offshore. The plan has faced fierce opposition from local residents, especially fishermen concerned about further damage to the area’s reputation.

TEPCO and government officials say tritium, which is not harmful in small amounts, is inseparable from the water, but all other 63 radioactive isotopes selected for treatment can be reduced to safe levels, tested and further diluted by seawater before release.

Scientists say the health impact from consuming tritium through the food chain could be greater than drinking it in water, and further studies are needed.

At one of the water treatment facilities where radiation levels are much higher, a team of workers in full protective gear handled a container filled with highly radioactive slurry. It had been filtered from the contaminated water that’s been continuously leaking from the damaged reactors and pumped up from their basements since the disaster. Large amounts of slurry and solid radioactive waste also accumulate in the plant.

Radiation levels have fallen significantly after decontamination since the disaster, and full protection gear is only needed in limited areas, including in and around the reactor buildings.

On a recent visit, AP journalists used cotton gloves, goggles, a head cover and surgical masks to tour low-radiation areas.

Additional protection, including hazmat coveralls and double rubber gloves, was required when the journalists entered the Unit 5 primary containment vessel and stood on the grating of the pedestal, a structure beneath the defueled core, where officials explained the concept of using robotic probes in No. 1 and 2 reactors.

TEPCO has emptied spent fuel from the No. 3 and No. 4 reactor pools, but removal at the No. 1 and 2 reactors has been delayed several years because of high radiation and contaminated debris, posing concerns of a spent fuel meltdown in case another major quake caused water loss and overheating.

Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa says the Fukushima Daiichi plant must be safely and fully decommissioned “to make our hometown a safe and livable place again.” Izawa said he wants the government to “wipe out the (region’s) negative image” by tackling the safe cleanup, which is a prerequisite for the town’s reconstruction.

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on March 16, triggering a tsunami advisory and plunging more than 2 million homes in the Tokyo area into darkness.

The region is part of northern Japan that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that also triggered nuclear plant meltdowns, spewing massive radiation that still makes some parts uninhabitable.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no longer a tsunami threat though the Japan Meteorological Agency kept its low risk advisory in place. NHK national television said tsunami waves of 20 centimeters (8 inches) already reached shore in Ishinomaki, about 390 kilometers (242 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

NHK footage showed broken walls of a department store building fell to the ground and shards of windows scattered on the street near the main train station in Fukushima city, about 60 kilometers (36 miles) west from the coastline.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant where the cooling systems failed after the 2011 disaster, said workers found no abnormalities at the site, which was in the process of being decommissioned.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said a fire alarm went off at the turbine building of No. 5 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi but there was no actual fire. Water pumps for the spent fuel cooling pool at two of the four reactors at Fukushima Daini briefly stopped, but later resumed operation. Fukushima Daini is also set for decommissioning.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 11:36 p.m. at a depth of 60 kilometers (36 miles) below the sea.

Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force said it dispatched fighter jets from the Hyakuri base in Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, for information gathering and damage assessment.

NHK said there were reports of fire, damage to buildings and falling rocks in Iitate town in Fukushima. There was no word on any casualties.

More than 2.2 million homes were without electricity in 14 northeastern prefectures including the Tokyo region, serviced by TEPCO and another utility, Tohoku Electric Power Co., according to the companies.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said power was expected to be restored soon after midnight on March 17.

The quake shook large parts of eastern Japan, including Tokyo, where buildings swayed violently.

East Japan Railway Co. said most of its train services were suspended for safety checks. Some local trains later resumed service.

A Tohoku Shinkansen express train partially derailed between Fukushima and Miyagi due to the quake, but nobody was injured, Kishida said.

He told reporters that the government was assessing the extent of damage and promised to do its utmost for rescue and relief operations.

“Please first take action to save your life,” Kishida tweeted.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there were a number of emergency calls and local authorities were scrambling to assess damage.

“We are doing our utmost in rescue operations and putting people’s lives first,” he said.

He urged residents in the affected areas to use extra caution for possible major aftershocks for about a week.

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Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.