Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will construct and operate four small modular reactors (SMRs) at its Darlington site. It is estimated that these SMRs will contribute about eleven billion dollars to Canada’s GDP. This will include about one billion dollars to Ontario’s GDP. The SMRs will create and sustain two thousand jobs every year in Canada over the next sixty-five years. This information was reported by the Conference Board of Canada (CBC).
The SMR report said, “There is now an increasing need for investing in stable and reliable energy resources, such as commercial-scale SMR technology. The deployment of more nuclear power in Ontario is a major investment decision. It is therefore important to understand the potential economic benefits for the province and the country of investing in new nuclear power generation.”
The CBC collaborated with OPG to analyze the economic impact and fiscal benefits of building and operating four SMRs at the Darlington site. It found that the SMRs would have a significant positive impact on the Ontario and Canadian economies. Ontario would reap eighty nine percent of the economic benefit associated with the project.
Each SMR constructed would increase GDP by almost two billion seven hundred million dollars and provide five hundred jobs annually over the sixty-five year period. In addition, the amount of tax revenues accruing to all levels of government is expected to be about three billion five hundred million dollars over the next sixty-five years. This includes plant construction and operations. The estimated number of jobs created by the project will be about one hundred and thirteen thousand jobs provincially and one hundred and twenty-eight thousand jobs nationally.
The CBC found that “The economic impact, or the ratio of increased GDP to spending (the 'economic multiplier') is 0.82 – each dollar spent would increase Canadian GDP by CAD0.82 across the total lifespan of the technologies.”
On October last year, OPG submitted an application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a license to construct a GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) BWRX-300 at the Darlington site. This license is required before any nuclear construction work on the SMR can start. Site preparation has already begun at the site. OPG intends to make a construction decision by the end of 2024. Construction of the reactor is scheduled to be finished by late 2028. The supply of power to the Ontario grid should start in 2029.
The Ontario government announced last July that it is working with OPG to start planning and licensing for three additional BWRX-300 reactors at Darlington. Subject to Ontario government and CNSC regulatory approvals on construction. The additional SMRs could come online between 2034 and 2036. This scheduling would permit OPG to apply earnings from the construction of the first SMR to deliver cost savings on subsequent SMRs. Constructing multiple units will also permit common infrastructure such as cooling water intake, transmission connection and control room to be used by all four units instead of just one, which would further reduce cost.
Ken Hartwick is the OPG President and CEO. He said, “Being the first North American mover of this innovative technology positions Ontario as a world leader in nuclear and a welcoming destination for new business. Our plan to construct four new reactors at Darlington will also generate opportunities across Ontario and Canada as suppliers of nuclear components and services have an opportunity to expand to serve the growing SMR market here and abroad.”