Premier of New Brunswick Higgs suggests N.B.’s SMRs may not win race to commercialization.

COMMENT , David Geary, Ha ha – wow, some fancy ‘politico-speak’ there from Higgs. Real world translation: ‘Whoopsie, we screwed up Big Time!’ – Rolls Royce SMR division, UK, is currently going under also. No sales. They’ll be out of cash before the end of 2024.- Jim Green has a good recent article about other SMR failures. Here –

Small modular nuclear reactors: a history of failure | RenewEconomy

COMMENT continued . – Does anybody have an up to date list? Because I’ve been composing (for a whilenow) a letter-to-the-editor, to Sask. papers, about the many SMR failures – – failures while they’re still on the drawing board!Anybody have inside info on the progress of GE-Hitachi’s SMR? I can’t see that one ever happening. Too many inherent design flaws…and ‘design is destiny’, as they say.Oddly, most or all SMRs seem almost designed to fail, for many reasons…. …the reverse ‘Economies of scale’ factor is but one obvious inherent problem.- SMR reactor cores being underground set up a novel and risky vulnerability too, re. groundwater inflow, earthquakes, etc.- As well as numerous other FOAK (First Of A Kind) issues & unknowns.- Dave G. Saskatoon

In addressing his government’s $20-million bet on the industry, Higgs says province couldn’t just sit on the sidelines

Adam Huras, Jul 16, 2024 https://tj.news/new-brunswick/higgs-suggests-n-b-s-smrs-may-not-win-race-to-commercialization

Premier Blaine Higgs suggests that New Brunswick’s two small modular reactor companies might not be the ones that successfully prevail amid a race to commercialize.

But in addressing his government’s $20-million bet on the industry, Higgs contends that New Brunswick couldn’t just sit on the sidelines and needed to do its part in a global race toward cleaner energy.

That said, it means the province must continue to look at all other options to meet its electricity needs, according to the premier.

In an interview with Brunswick News, Higgs was questioned on the sudden departure of ARC Clean Technology Canada’s president and CEO amid layoffs made by what is one the of two SMR companies enticed to set up in New Brunswick.

It’s a company the Higgs government gave $20 million now three years ago to help develop its prospective technology, after the previous Liberal Gallant government gave it $10 million.

Last October, the federal government also awarded ARC another $7 million.

“I haven’t got any assurances one way or the other on whether they keep going or whether they’re not,” Higgs said. “As far as I’m aware, their program continues.

“The changes they’ve made, we’re seeing that in many different companies.”

He added: “I’ll remain optimistic until I know otherwise, but I don’t want to take away from the fact that we have to be prepared to look at all aspects of technology that is being presented to us.”

Higgs made reference to “some pull back” in the race towards electric car and battery manufacturing as a parallel, where some leaders have emerged.

He then referenced how the race to commercialize small modular nuclear technology now includes companies and countries around the world.

He suggested that the race is still on.

“I don’t rule any of the current ones that we have right now as being out of the game, but are there more players in the game? Yes. And do we need to understand the best one? We certainly do,” Higgs said.

As ARC rationalizes its workforce, some of its competitors are hiring.

American manufacturing company Westinghouse has opened a new engineering hub in Kitchener, Ont., that aims to support both Canadian-based and international nuclear power projects with a new 13,000-square-foot office and plans to hire 100 engineers to staff it by next year.

That’s as a partnership between Ontario Power Generation and GE-Hitachi to build a small modular reactor at Ontario’s Darlington nuclear station is closer to maturity than similar plans in New Brunswick.

At a New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board hearing last month into a recent power rate hike, NB Power vice president Brad Coady testified he doesn’t expect the province-backed SMRs will be ready by an original target date of 2030.

The utility now believes they’ll be ready by 2032 or 2033.

But SMRs are still part of the plan.

“Our integrated resource plan says we need small modular reactors on our system by the early 2030s and we’re still confident that we can have those,” NB Power CEO Lori Clark told reporters at the hearings.

Asked if his government has now wasted $20 million in taxpayer money, Higgs disagreed, instead stating the province’s efforts are part of a larger goal.

“We know a lot of money has been spent to convert to cleaner forms of energy in the world and research and development is a big component of what is the next best thing, and so we can’t just sit by and wait,” Higgs said.

“We have to be participants in developing the technology or working with others to do so.

“Here in New Brunswick, we’re doing our part for the next generation of clean energy, and part of that is research and development. We can’t just stand by and say ‘I hope somebody figures it out.’”