The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has authorized a construction licence for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to build a BWRX-300 reactor at the Darlington Nuclear Project site in Clarington, Ontario.
The energy regulator concluded that OPG is qualified to carry out the activities which the licence authorizes, that there are adequate programs in place to ensure that the health and safety of workers, the public, and the environment will be protected, and that there will be adequate provisions for the maintenance and implementation of national security and Canada’s international obligations.
The licence, which is valid until March 2035, includes site-specific conditions as well as regulatory hold-points during the construction process which require OPG to provide additional information to the regulator before progress can commence. The licence does not authorize the operation of the reactor, however, as this is subject to a future licencing hearing and would require OPG to file an application to do so.
In September 2006, OPG applied for a licence to prepare the site. The environmental assessment process began in May 2007 and was finalized in 2012, at which point the Government of Canada determined that the project was not likely to cause significant adverse environmental impacts.
OPG selected the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor in December 2021 and applied for the construction licence in October 2022, and now it awaits the Ontario Government’s decision, which will be the go-ahead to begin construction on the first of four small modular reactors (SMRs).
In January 2022, after the announcement was made, GE Hitachi said that early site preparation work at Darlington had been completed “with construction of the first unit expected to start later this year, pending regulatory approval, and commercial operations expected to commence by the end of 2029.”
In response to the decision, Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s Minister of Energy and Mines said, “This approval is a historic milestone for Ontario and Canada. The Darlington small modular reactor will be the first of its kind in the G7, helping to power our growing province with reliable, affordable, and emissions-free energy.
“The Darlington New Nuclear Project could create up to 17,000 Canadian jobs during construction, contribute over CAD15 billion (USD10.5 billion) to Canada’s GDP, and drive CAN500 million annually into our supply chain because our government has insisted and successfully negotiated that local Ontario and Canadian businesses must be overwhelmingly used to build SMRs for the world. Ontario is realising its potential as a stable democratic energy superpower, and I look forward to sharing next steps for this exciting project in the coming weeks.”
