Paclo

Paclo

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This thread will be used for discussion of the Darlington Small Modular Reactor (North America's first SMR), also known as the "Darlington New Nuclear Project", for which site preparation is underway as of December 2022, and completion is targeted for late 2028.

More information and supporting documents can be found on OPG's site.

Rendering from GE Hitachi:
rendering - BWRX-300 web.jpg


Location and construction plan from the CNSC Reactor Facility Construction Licence Application of October 2022:
LTC-Application-Rev-00-Master-Copy-FINAL-ua-001-044-42.jpg

LTC-Application-Rev-00-Master-Copy-FINAL-ua-001-044-44.jpg
 
Oh boy, that can'du of worms, and how it just got opened...
 
The site plan looks like such a "one-off" - I am not sure what the efficiency in building a single 300MW SMR in the hinterland of a growing metropolitan area is - it's neither here not there.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The site plan looks like such a "one-off" - I am not sure what the efficiency in building a single 300MW SMR in the hinterland of a growing metropolitan area is - it's neither here not there.

AoD
Click to expand...
I could see southwestern Ontario as a site for a second SMR. London is booming, and two major plants are opening in Windsor and St. Thomas. OPG is studying new transmission in the area, and a SMR could alleviate the need (or reduce the amount) for more major power lines, while serving a growing area.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The site plan looks like such a "one-off" - I am not sure what the efficiency in building a single 300MW SMR in the hinterland of a growing metropolitan area is - it's neither here not there.

AoD
Click to expand...
This the first SMR in the world from what I recall - it makes sense to put it next to an existing major nuclear facility close to nuclear expertise. The point here is more “proof of concept” than supplying a specific need.

Any latter SMRs once this one is built will likely be where the real return comes from through, by enabling it to be located in more specific areas which need power. But right now they are more so making sure the design works.

I’ve long thought Nanticoke would be a good location for one as well given the old transportation infrastructure there from the old coal plant, and the fact that OPG owns a lot of land there already.
 
....and it would be a nice tie in until the days our vehicles and abodes will be powered by Mr. Fusion. 😼
 
innsertnamehere said:
This the first SMR in the world from what I recall - it makes sense to put it next to an existing major nuclear facility close to nuclear expertise. The point here is more “proof of concept” than supplying a specific need.

Any latter SMRs once this one is built will likely be where the real return comes from through, by enabling it to be located in more specific areas which need power. But right now they are more so making sure the design works.

I’ve long thought Nanticoke would be a good location for one as well given the old transportation infrastructure there from the old coal plant, and the fact that OPG owns a lot of land there already.
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I agree. The critical mass of industrial knowledge (pun intended) is already there along with the various infrastructure elements.

It's good that more information is emerging on the actual scope of these things. I get the sense that the general population and general media have locked onto the "small" part in an unrealistic way. I have heard comments that they will be akin to a sea container and able to be dropped into small isolated communities and mine sites that are off grid.
 
innsertnamehere said:
This the first SMR in the world from what I recall - it makes sense to put it next to an existing major nuclear facility close to nuclear expertise. The point here is more “proof of concept” than supplying a specific need.

Any latter SMRs once this one is built will likely be where the real return comes from through, by enabling it to be located in more specific areas which need power. But right now they are more so making sure the design works.

I’ve long thought Nanticoke would be a good location for one as well given the old transportation infrastructure there from the old coal plant, and the fact that OPG owns a lot of land there already.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt the siting has to do with proximity to nearby nuclear expertise/facilities - but you'd wonder why there doesn't seem to be more a plan for a kind of peas in a pod arrangement for additional units at that site, especially considering the power demands of the region won't be going down anytime soon.

AoD
 
SaugeenJunction said:
I could see southwestern Ontario as a site for a second SMR. London is booming, and two major plants are opening in Windsor and St. Thomas. OPG is studying new transmission in the area, and a SMR could alleviate the need (or reduce the amount) for more major power lines, while serving a growing area.
Click to expand...
Back in the late 2000s, Nanticoke was planned to be home to a two-reactor 2000-3000 MW nuclear plant operated by Bruce Power directly adjacent to the west of Stelco Erie Works, in response to the province announcing that coal power was being phased out.

The plant was killed off in the early stages because power demand was estimated to plateau over the years due to industry leaving the province. Now that industry and mass-electrification are coming, I wouldn’t be surprised if either the province or Bruce Power started looking at that site again for either an SMR or a new full-sized nuclear plant.

The SMR is the future. I am excited to see the Darlington SMR take shape and hopefully other announced areas (Estevan SK and Point Lepreau NB) get their own SMR projects started soon too. The real exciting thing will be to see if the oil sands giants want to revisit nuclear again as a way to reduce emissions from their operations.
 
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Hopefully there will be a push for these reactors at Pickering as well in light of uncertainties over that plant's future.
 
jje1000 said:
Hopefully there will be a push for these reactors at Pickering as well in light of uncertainties over that plant's future.
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Though each of Pickering's reactor has an output of ~500MW range, so the SMR doesn't even provide a 1:1 replacement - and the lack of any plans to have multiple units makes you wonder what the plans really are.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
It seems like we need a separate Darlington SMR thread:

www.theglobeandmail.com

Ontario looks to go ahead with three more small modular nuclear reactors

Provincially owned Ontario Power Generation had already sought approval for one of the new, largely untested units at its Darlington site
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

AoD
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Another great step in the right direction.

Building multiple at the same location in succession is honestly probably the best way of demonstrating the potential modularity and cost-effectiveness of these units in practice.
 
ericmacm said:
Another great step in the right direction.

Building multiple at the same location in succession is honestly probably the best way of demonstrating the potential modularity and cost-effectiveness of these units in practice.
Click to expand...

Building a single SMR was a bit of a headscratcher to me from the start - but even now it feels a little odd considering even 4 SMRs only equate to an output of what, a single regular CANDU on a site with multiple units.

AoD
 
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