OTTAWA — The Canadian government is betting big on atoms. A new federal strategy, released Monday, lays out a path that could see up to 10 large-scale nuclear reactors built across the country. Two are slated to be under construction by 2035.
More would follow by 2040. This is not a modest plan.
It is a deliberate pivot. Natural Resources Canada, the department that issued the strategy, is framing nuclear power as a central pillar of the nation’s future energy system. The document also pushes small modular reactors — a newer, smaller technology.
A Canadian microreactor is scheduled for demonstration by 2035. Deployment to remote communities would come in the late 2030s.
Those remote sites matter. Many northern and Indigenous communities rely on diesel generators. Fuel is expensive to fly or barge in.
Power is unreliable and dirty. A microreactor, if it works, could change that calculus entirely. It offers a steady, low-carbon supply where the grid does not reach.
But the strategy is not just about keeping the lights on at home. The real prize, as the document makes clear, is global.
Canada wants to sell its nuclear technology abroad. The target: secure Canada’s Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactor technology in at least several new international markets by 2040. The department also aims to engage with a substantial number of new nuclear entrant markets over a 15-year horizon.
That is a commercial play. CANDU reactors are a Canadian design, developed over decades.
They use natural uranium and heavy water as a moderator. The design has been sold to countries like South Korea, Romania, and Argentina. But the market has been tough.
Large nuclear projects are expensive and slow. Competitors like Russia’s Rosatom and South Korea’s KHNP have been aggressive. Canada has been losing ground.
This strategy tries to reverse that. It signals to potential buyers that Ottawa is serious.
That it will support exports. That the technology is not a relic but a growth industry. The economic benefits could be significant if the plan works.
Engineering jobs. Supply chain contracts.
Reactor servicing deals that last decades. The timing is no accident. Global interest in nuclear power is rising.
Countries are hunting for low-carbon baseload electricity. Climate targets are forcing hard choices. Wind and solar are cheap but intermittent.
Nuclear runs around the clock. Canada has uranium.
It has expertise. It has a design that works. But the strategy faces real hurdles.
Building large reactors in Canada has historically been a nightmare of cost overruns and delays. Ontario’s Darlington and Bruce refurbishments have gone better, but new builds are a different beast.
The industry needs a skilled workforce that has atrophied. Supply chains must be rebuilt. Public opposition, while quieter than in the 1970s, still exists.
Small modular reactors are supposed to be easier. Factory-built. Shipped by truck or rail.
Cheaper per unit. But none are yet commercially operating in Canada.
The demonstration by 2035 is ambitious. Deployment to remote communities in the late 2030s assumes the technology proves out. That is not guaranteed.
Still, the strategy is clear. Canada is choosing nuclear.
Not as a stopgap. As a mainstay. The department is not hedging.
It is committing. Two large reactors under construction by 2035. A microreactor demo by 2035.
CANDU sold to new countries by 2040. These are not vague aspirations.
They are deadlines. Whether the country can meet them is another story. But the direction is set.
The atoms are in motion.
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