The federal government of Canada on Monday unveiled its nuclear energy strategy, committing to the construction of up to 10 new nuclear reactors and enhancing the export potential of the sector.
Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Tim Hodgson stated during a press conference in Newmarket: “Our nuclear energy strategy is ambitious, and it needs to be. The scale of the available opportunities is extremely large, and I hope you realize that now. This is not an opportunity that should scare us; rather, it reminds us of who we are as Canadians,” according to the Canadian newspaper “National Post.”
Strategy and conflict of interest
Officials reported that the strategy was not presented to Prime Minister Mark Carney due to conflict of interest rules. Previously, Carney served as chairman of the board of directors of Brookfield Asset Management, which, in partnership with Cameco, acquired Westinghouse Electric in 2023 — one of the world’s largest nuclear companies, closely linked to the Canadian nuclear supply chain. Mark Carney still owns assets related to Brookfield, which are currently held in an independent trust fund during his premiership.
This strategy complements the federal government’s intention to double the capacity of Canada’s power grid by 2050. Although the strategy does not allocate new funding, the government announced that by April 2027, it will issue a policy defining the conditions for federal support and available financing tools for new nuclear projects.
Development of the nuclear sector
Nuclear energy was highlighted as a key component of the government’s electricity strategy announced last month. Hodgson added: “Simply put, if our goal is to double the power grid and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, there is no reliable plan for Canada to achieve this without nuclear energy and the clean, reliable baseload power it provides.”
The plan aims to capitalize on what is described as a “global nuclear renaissance,” given Canada’s structural advantages in this sector. Hodgson noted that if provinces implement their nuclear plans, the number of workers in the sector is expected to double from 90,000 to 180,000 jobs over the next few decades.
Currently, Canada has 17 nuclear reactors that generate about 15% of the country’s electricity. Two reactors are under construction and are expected to be commissioned by 2035, along with another 5 reactors planned by 2040. Most of these reactors are located in the province of Ontario, while one operating reactor is situated in New Brunswick.
One of the main goals of the strategy announced on Monday is to facilitate the construction of up to 10 new large nuclear reactors in Canada, with one planned outside the province of Ontario. The strategy also aims to modernize the CANDU reactor (a type of nuclear reactor developed in Canada that operates on natural uranium) by 2030. A high-ranking government official stated that the last reactor of this type was built in the 1990s, and since then, standards and norms have evolved due to the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011.
The strategy also aims to double uranium exports by 2040. According to Canada’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Canada ranks second in the world in uranium production and export. The province of Saskatchewan contains most of the country’s uranium deposits, as well as several processing plants owned by Cameco Corporation.
Source: Sky News Arabia