A global problem like climate change requires an international solution. Simply put, carbon emissions don’t respect borders; no one country alone can protect the climate.
In an effort to speed a solution, the United States and Canada are melding their strengths in reactor engineering, sophisticated manufacturing, and regulatory capabilities. Both countries recognize how advanced nuclear is essential for reducing carbon emissions and are working together to make new reactors a reality. This partnership demonstrates the benefits that international cooperation in nuclear energy can have for the partner nations and the world.
Cross-Border Efforts Mean More Resources and Bigger Markets
Developing new technology requires lots of research and resources. International cooperation can make it easier, drawing on a wider range of expertise and funding and providing a bigger target market to speed deployment.
With that goal in mind, U.S. and Canadian companies and researchers are collaborating on many different reactor projects. Ontario Power Generation Inc., which is the province’s biggest generator and operates two nuclear power stations, is supporting the development of three small modular reactors (SMRs) in the region: one Canadian and two American, one of which has Japanese participation.
Bruce Power, another major Canadian nuclear utility, has established a partnership with U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co. to explore deploying a micro-reactor. In addition, New Brunswick Electric has a partnership with Moltex Energy Ltd., a British company with offices in Canada, to develop a 30-megawatt small modular reactor that could run partly on used fuel from U.S. reactors, according to the company. Other Canadian reactors would use U.S.-produced fuel, a first for Canada.
Cross-border efforts can also broaden the market for new nuclear technology, which helps commercial viability. There are many places where very small reactors would fit in the United States, but the bigger market is probably in Canada, which has more isolated settlements and off-grid mining operations.
Collaboration Helps Regulators Share Insights
International cooperation can make clearing regulatory hurdles more efficient by eliminating duplicative work. Though government agencies might have different processes, they are looking at the same hardware and can share notes.
Several companies in the U.S. and Canada are looking to deploy small modular reactors on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border and are seeking regulatory approvals in both countries. These include Canada’s Terrestrial Energy Inc. and U.S.-based companies Holtec International, NuScale Power LLC, X-energy, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. These and other companies with cross-border ambitions are eagerly waiting to see the extent to which each regulator will give credit for work approved by the other.
Both countries’ regulators signed a memorandum of cooperation in August 2019, to permit the “efficient deployment” of SMRs. They promised to share technical information and insights that they developed in their independent reviews. They may “develop shared approaches to conducting technical reviews” in order to “resolve common technical questions and facilitate regulatory reviews that address our respective national regulations,” as the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission put it.
This partnership has the potential to speed the approval of advanced reactors in the U.S. and Canada.
The U.S.-Canadian Relationship Highlights the Advantages of International Cooperation
Canada is an excellent partner in nuclear cooperation because of the government’s attitude there, which matches recent recognition in the U.S. for nuclear’s important role in decarbonization.
“We have not seen a model where we can get to net-zero emissions by 2050 without nuclear,” said Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s minister of natural resources, in a September radio interview.
For reasons like this, the U.S.-Canada relationship is special and uniquely equipped to facilitate nuclear cooperation. Even though aspects of this relationship can’t be replicated in other bilateral relationships, it serves as an example of the benefits of international cooperation. And it will take more of these close, collaborative partnerships to decarbonize the whole world.
