nuclear-news

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories cancels SMR programs

CNL’s call for SMR demonstration projects, and CNL’s “Advanced Reactor” research initiative, are now officially terminated:

Chalk River, ON – September 10, 2026 – Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology organization, is announcing adjustments to its clean energy research programs. As of July 2026, CNL will close its Invitation for Clean Energy Projects program and the Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative (CNRI). Both programs were aimed at leveraging the facilities and capabilities at CNL-managed sites to advance clean energy projects.

• 
  Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative (CNRI) – it was a program to support collaborative Advanced Reactor (AR) research projects with third-party proponents in Canada.
• Invitation for Clean Energy Projects program  (originally titled as Invitation for SMR Demonstration Projects) – CNL had been working with its client, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (“AECL”), to develop a process by which CNL could recommend the establishment of one or more clean energy demonstration projects on one or more sites owned by AECL (including Chalk River Laboratories and Whiteshell Laboratories).

CNL will continue “to explore the potential of micro-reactors,” using $40 million of DND funding:

On April 29, 2026, Minister Hodgson, on behalf of the Honourable David J. McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, announced that the Government of Canada, through the Department of National Defence (DND), is making an initial $40-million investment for 2026–2027 to assess the potential of a Canadian‑controlled microreactor that could provide heat and electricity to remote and northern DND and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) facilities and operations.

September 18, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors