Overview
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and Microreactors, the most recent technological advancements in nuclear energy, will pioneer the commercial application of nuclear power in traditionally unserviceable markets, and pave the way for clean, resilient, affordable, baseload power, worldwide. Not only could SMRs replace grid-scale fossil fuel plants in Canada, but they could also enable lower-cost, zero-carbon, stable baseload power for Canada’s vast Northern industry, mines, and remote and Indigenous communities. As a nation committed to a prosperous low-carbon future, Canada has shown through tangible government and industry mechanisms, its seriousness to seize and invest in the SMR opportunity. Without question, Canada’s strong and well-integrated nuclear ecosystem, infrastructure and supply chain, supported by unprecedented government-driven efforts, will coalesce to bring SMRs to demonstration and commercial fruition in Canada, well before 2030.
As Canada’s first commercial marine nuclear power developer, Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd., fully endorses the SMR Action Plan Pan-Canadian Vision and Statement of Principles, and stands ready to support Canada’s national and international SMR endeavors.
SMRs and Microreactors are smaller than typical nuclear reactors. They produce significantly less net power output per module, and lend themselves to construction at-scale due to modular design and fabrication technologies. Furthermore, the flexibility to deploy either one reactor power module or several modules at a single site, as well as simpler operations, allow for power scalability and operating requirements highly viable for remote and off-grid power generation. Prodigy is developing turnkey nuclear power solutions, specifically for this niche commercial market. Our first-of-a-kind (FOAK) SMR and Microreactor power plants are tailored to the unique environmental, climate, and infrastructural needs of Canada’s Northern locations; and will enable safer, more flexible, more quickly delivered, and more affordable nuclear power deployment in the North. Through Prodigy’s current and developing domestic and international projects with near-term delivery schedules in the mid to late 2020s, we aim to support Canada as the first commercial adopter of remote/off-grid- and marine- deployed SMRs in the Western world, and to help to position Canada as an SMR frontrunner and prime mover on the global stage.
Prodigy’s commercial approach is to develop SMR and Microreactor power plants and business constructs tailored to the specific operating and economic needs of the customer. Furthermore, we optimize plant siting, deployment, and overall plant lifecycle management strategies, to fully capture and address the requirements of the end-user, local communities and other project stakeholders, all within prescribed policy, regulatory and legal boundary conditions.
The materialization of Prodigy’s commercial projects will require deliberate and tactful partnership with entities across the entire Canadian nuclear ecosystem, including SMR and Microreactor developers, nuclear operators, nuclear and non-nuclear manufacturers, and environmental assessment and nuclear waste management experts. Additionally, given the novelty of our technologies and deployment approaches, engagement with regulators, and provincial and federal government, will be of continuous priority. Prodigy is also developing strategic alliances with industrial sectors unconventional to nuclear power deployment, which will generate new streams of Canadian domestic economic stimulus.
Of highest importance to Prodigy’s success, however, will be the formation of meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities. Their support and active involvement will be the cornerstone of Prodigy’s efforts in the North. Although each of our current projects target deploying SMR and Microreactor plants at specific industrial sites to reduce their GHG emissions and costs of electricity, we have proposed to project stakeholders additional infrastructure and programs which would support the parallel delivery of nuclear power to local communities in proximity. Currently, Canada’s Northern remote/off-grid Indigenous communities depend almost exclusively on diesel fuel for electricity generation. To enable their socioeconomic prosperity, we must seek to provide more viable, clean and sustainable energy alternatives. Prodigy’s SMR and Microreactor power plants could become key, strategic, legacy assets for Indigenous communities, supplying lower-cost and environmentally-symbiotic electricity for extensive all-year heating and cooling capabilities, water desalination, and local economic infrastructural stability, development and growth. Dynamic, two-way dialogue with Indigenous peoples to continually understand and address community concerns, build community rapport and support, and institute community benefits, will be an ongoing requirement for all of Prodigy’s Northern power projects. We plan to invest in and sustain these engagements beginning from site feasibility, all the way through plant decommissioning.