Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has completed a significant project milestone by submitting an application for a Licence to Construct to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). This licence application is the next step in the deployment of a small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington NPP site.
The application was developed collaboratively between OPG and GE Hitachi, and comprises a number of information packages that will be submitted to the CNSC in sequence over the next six months. This licence is required before any nuclear construction work on the SMR at Darlington can begin. GE Hitachi, the designer of the BWRX-300 smr.
This licence submission comes after another significant milestone, the beginning of site preparation activities earlier in October. Site preparation work consists of non-nuclear infrastructure activities, such as clearing and grading a portion of the new nuclear site to build roads, utilities and support buildings. Execution of site preparation work is planned to continue into 2025. A number of information packages will be submitted to the CNSC in sequence, over the next six months.
According to the CNSC, a Licence to Construct requires an applicant to demonstrate that the design of the proposed facility "conforms to regulatory requirements and will provide for safe operation over the proposed plant life, and responsibility for all activities pertaining to design, procurement, manufacturing, construction and commissioning."
The regulatory review process includes opportunities for Indigenous Nations and Communities and the public to discuss the application, ask questions and raise areas of interest, OPG said, culminating in a public hearing, held by the CNSC. This is likely to take place in 2024.
The Darlington site is the only site in Canada currently licensed for a new nuclear build, with an accepted environmental assessment and site preparation licence. OPG expects to make a construction decision by the end of 2024 and has set a preliminary target date of 2028 for plant operations.
The BWRX-300 is a 300MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GEH's ESBWR boiling water reactor. It is currently undergoing a CNSC pre-licensing Vendor Design Review. The Canada Infrastructure Bank recently committed CAD970 million ($713 million) towards the Darlington New Nuclear Project.
Image: A rendering of a BWRX-300 plant (courtesy of GE Hitachi)