SaskPower has chosen GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) technology for Saskatchewan’s first two nuclear units, which the provincial utility plans to deploy by the mid-2030s.
The announcement on June 27 wraps up a four-year process to evaluate specific SMR designs and furthers planning for SaskPower, a Crown corporation, which has explored building as many as four new nuclear units.
The technology selection assessment focused on several key factors, including “safety, technology readiness, generation size, fuel type and expected cost of electricity,” SaskPower said on Monday. GEH’s BWRX-300, a 300-MW boiling-water reactor, won the selection in the contest with X-energy’s Xe-100, and Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR).
