Canadian stakeholders show widespread support for U-Battery
19 March 2019
The Governments of Canada and the Province of Ontario have shown further support for exploring the potential for the development and deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) in Canada, and how U-Battery’s technology can advance the SMR landscape.
U-Battery General Manager Steve Threlfall recently attended several government and industry meetings both in Toronto and Ottawa, as well as the annual Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) conference, CNA2019. Steve was joined by Chris White and Sean Donnelly from U-Battery’s consortium members, Urenco and Kinectrics.
Among the supporters was Northwest Territories’ Member of Parliament, Michael McLeod, who is keen to find an alternative solution to diesel-based power generation for his region to help address energy security.
Both levels of government were interested in learning more about fuel cycle, engineering design and licensing, first-of-a-kind deployment, long-term supply chain development, job creation, wide-scale deployment and export opportunities.
Steve said:
“It is encouraging to see this type of interest and widespread support in a market that is considered to be one of the world’s promising domestic regions for SMRs."
Since 2017, U-Battery has made significant strides towards establishing their first-of-a-kind demonstration facility in Canada. These include a memorandum of understanding with Bruce Power, a service agreement with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the incorporation of a Canadian subsidiary, U-Battery Canada Limited. Most recently, U-Battery also submitted its prequalification package to participate in Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ (CNL) invitation to site an SMR demonstration.
U-Battery looks forward to continuing to work with government officials and stakeholders in Canada’s nuclear sector in the advancement of nuclear innovation through SMR technology.
About U-Battery
U-Battery is an advanced/small modular reactor, capable of providing a low-carbon, cost-effective, locally embedded and reliable source of power and heat for energy intensive industry and remote locations. It is being developed by Urenco in collaboration with a number of supporting organisations and has received funding from the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's Energy Innovation Portfolio.