The Emissions-Free Energy (EFE) Working Group

Abstract

There has been a growing international interest in smaller, simpler reactors for generating electricity and process heat. They incorporate modern technological advances in reactor design, reactor safety, modular construction, proliferation resistance, and risk reduction. The interest in these reactors has been driven by many factors, including the need to reduce greenhouse gasemissions and provide reliable power in ‘off-grid’ or ‘edge-of-grid’ locations.Licensing these new small reactors, particularly in Canada’s resource rich remote northern regions, will raises issues in a wide variety of technical, institutional, socio-economic and regulatory policy areas. The first small reactor vendor to file a license application or to engage the CNSC in its pre-licensing vendor design review process is going to have to deal with theseissues. However these issues affect the entire small reactor industry and it is essential that the industry as a whole address them. Accordingly, a small reactor industry-wide Working Group has been established to identify and prioritize the issues that need to be addressed and work with the CNSC and other interested stakeholders to agree on a resolution acceptable to all parties.The objective of the small reactor industry is to introduce an economical, emissions-free source of electrical and thermal energy. It is the opinion of the WG that our emphasis ought to be on the product rather than the technology, hence the name Emissions-Free Energy Working Group. The EFE WG has initiated contact with the CNSC and has started its review of CNSC draft regulatory and guidance documents.