The Westinghouse Electric Company has signed an agreement in principle with the Pabineau and Eel River Bar First Nations in the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick to build a small modular reactor (SMR).
The plan is to install an AP300 unit in the Port of Belledune. Local developers such as the Belledune Port Authority and New Brunswick Power will buy the electricity produced; other possible customers are factories and data centres.
Belledune has four terminals and 650ha of development land. The port authority wants to set up a green energy hub and use it to attract low-carbon industries. It identified SMR technology as a way to do this back in 2022. It is also looking at an ARC-100 reactor to provide energy for hydrogen production.
Terry Richardson, chief of Pabineau First Nation, said he was excited to sign the memorandum. “The Port of Belledune offers a great opportunity with land and a deep-water port that gives access to world markets. We look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with Westinghouse,” he said.
Jake Caplin, the chief of Eel River Bar First Nation, added that he was proud to be part of clean energy innovation that would benefit community members for generations to come.
Pabineau and Eel River Bar are both Mi’kmaq communities located in northern New Brunswick. Pabineau is situated along the Nepisiguit River near the city of Bathurst, and Eel River Bar First Nation is located along the Eel River and Chaleur Bay near the town of Dalhousie.
Westinghouse bills the AP300 as the only SMR that is based on licensed technology. It has an 80-year lifespan and a power rating of 300MW produced using a single-loop pressurised water design.
It is based on the gen-III+ AP1000 unit, four of which are already operating in China, with six more under construction.Westinghouse said the AP300 SMR uses AP1000 engineering and components to “streamline licensing and leverage available technical skills”.
It launched the design in May 2023. It expects to receive US federal approval for the design in 2027, with the first unit to come online in 2033.
Westinghouse is owned by Canadian companies Brookfield and Cameco.
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