The four provinces planning to deploy SMR’s in the mid to longer term want to demonstrate that such deployment will lead to jobs with local suppliers, including Indigenous-owned suppliers, to justify public/private investment in SMRs. Currently, only Ontario has a strong and diverse nuclear-qualified supply chain, but this existing supply chain will require retooling and reskilling to meet the unique SMR equipment and material specifications as well as new methods of deployment – modular construction with factory assembly. The existing nuclear component fabricators will also need to adopt serial production technologies that reduce costs while maintaining function and quality with fleet deployments of SMRs. Suppliers may also need to implement Advanced Manufacturing for some components to help reduce SMR costs and schedules in order for SMRs to be competitive with other energy supply options.

Panelists representing three SMR developers targeting the off-grid market (SMR Stream Three) will discuss some of the challenges faced by the existing largely CANDU-based supply chain in pivoting to also supply the unique materials, configuration, dimensional, and performance requirements of SMRs designs.


Panelists:

Westinghouse Canada – Mike Valore, Sr. Director – Advanced Reactor Commercialization

Ultra-Safe Nuclear Corporations – Schalk Prinsloo, Supply Chain Lead

U-Battery – John Eldridge, Principal Engineer

Moderator:

OCNI – Ron Oberth

Challenges of Becoming an SMR Supplier

  • Thursday Oct 28 2021, 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM
  • OCNI Virtual Events