The federal government on Monday launched a new nuclear energy strategy that seeks to build at least 10 new large-scale reactors in Canada and expand global exports over the next 15 years.
The strategy builds on Ottawa’s overall aim to double electricity capacity by 2050, something the government argues requires zero-emission power sources like nuclear to avoid wide-scale environmental impacts.
“If our goal is to double our grid and build a low-carbon economy in less than 25 years, there is no credible plan to do that without nuclear energy and the clean, reliable baseload power is provides,” Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said at the strategy’s unveiling in Newmarket, Ont.
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“We are writing the next chapter in one of Canada’s great industrial success stories.”
The strategy’s four pillars include enabling new reactor builds across Canada, boosting Canada as a global supplier and exporter of nuclear energy and technology, expanding uranium and nuclear fuel production while supporting nuclear waste management solutions, and developing new innovations like fission and fusion.
At the heart of the strategy is the Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactor, which the federal government owns the intellectual property rights and license for. These reactors do not require uranium enrichment, lowering costs and the potential for nuclear weaponization.
Seventeen CANDU reactors across Canada supply 13 per cent of the country’s electricity, while nine others are in service abroad in countries including South Korea, Romania, India and China.
The strategy aims to have two new large-scale reactors under construction by 2035, with five more planned or under development by 2040.
More to come…
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