Utility OPG planning four BWRX-300 units at Ontario nuclear site
Canada’s federal nuclear regulator has issued construction licence to utility Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to build a General Electric Hitachi (GEH) BWRX-300 reactor at its Darlington new nuclear project site in Clarington, Ontario.
The licence, which includes site-specific conditions, is valid until 31 March 2035.
Ontario energy minister Stephen Lecce said the Darlington SMR will be the first of its kind in the G7.
OPG is ultimately planning for four SMRs to be built at the Darlington site, next to the existing Darlington nuclear power station, which has four operational large-scale nuclear plants.
The goal of the project is to generate up to 4,800 MW of electricity for the Ontario grid.
In December 2021, OPG announced that it had selected the BWRX-300 reactor for deployment at the Darlington site. In October 2022, OPG applied to the CNSC for a licence to construct a single BWRX-300 reactor for the project. In April 2024, the CNSC determined that an earlier environmental assessment for the site remained applicable to the BWRX-300 reactor technology.
In January GEH said early site preparation work at Darlington had been completed with construction of the first unit expected to start later this year, pending regulatory approval. Commercial operation is expected to begin by the end of 2029.
The BWRX-300 is a 300-MW water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems and based on an existing boiling water reactor design – the ESBWR – that is licensed in the US. It also uses an existing, licensed fuel design.
Canada Bullish On Prospects For Nuclear
Darlington, north of Toronto on the shore of Lake Ontario, is the only site in Canada with an approved environmental assessment and regulatory licence for new nuclear.
Canada is bullish about the prospects for nuclear energy, including SMRs.
It has a fleet of 19 large-scale commercial nuclear power plants that provide about 14% of its electricity generation. Major projects have begun to extend the lifetime of reactors at the Bruce, Darlington and Pickering stations.
In August 2023, Canada approved up to CAD74m (€47m, $51m) in federal funding for SMR development in Saskatchewan with potential deployment of a first plant in the mid-2030s and more units to follow.
Utility SaskPower has already chosen the BWRX-300 SMR for potential deployment in Saskatchewan, subject to a decision to build expected in 2029.
