There’s been a lot of talk about SMR’s over the years, it’s nice to see one finally being built.

Even if it comes in over budget, getting the first one done will be a great learning experience and could lead to figuring out how to do future ones cheaper.

Assuming it’s on time, completion in 2029, connected to grid in 2030.

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
    2·
    2 days ago

    The small modular reactor (SMR) would provide 300 megawatts of power, enough electricity to supply about 300,000 homes, according to briefing documents from Ontario’s Ministry of Energy and Mines.

    300MW isn’t small at all. That’s half a CANDU block! I thought they would be significantly smaller and therefore not too significant for the grid until we build more units. This is the equivalent of 20-30 of the largest wind turbines available. Not sure if we have that large units installed in Canada.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      2 days ago

      It’s small compared to typical nuclear reactors which are usually 1GW, and these new units use much less land space.

      Edit: They’re also designed to be manufactured offsite at a manufacturing facility instead of the very large ones that are built on site.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
        1·
        2 days ago

        Our reactors have lower output than the typical 1-1.5GW of foreign designs though. CANDU are in the the 500-800MW range. It’s why compared to CANDU, 300MW is significant.

        • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          2 days ago

          Ah, I didn’t realize the CANDU’s were also manufactured at a factory unlike the bigger built in place ones.

          I guess it’s just about getting them even smaller at that point, and the SMRs take up less land space as well.

          A SMR-300 (maybe not this one specifically) can be as small as 3 hectares.

          • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
            1·
            2 days ago

            I don’t know if CANDUs have pre-made components, I was just talking about their output power. I don’t know exactly why it’s lower than other designs but I know there are some fundamental differences like CANDU burning unenriched uranium as opposed to almost all other designs. It also uses heavy water to make that possible compared to the rest. I assume the lower power output is related to these differences. Or it could be arbitrary. We need someone working on nukes at OPG or SNC-Lavalin to chime in. 😂

            • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.worldOP
              1·
              2 days ago

              Oh sorry I googled CANDU to learn a bit more and saw that they were also made in a factory offsite.

              I imagine that’s at least one of the reasons why its lower capacity per reactor. It can only be so big if built offsite.