![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777094954_389_default.jpg\")
Various companies have created designs for small modular reactors. This version from NuScale shows a reactor small enough to be transported by truck. (NuScale Power)<\/p>\nOfficials from Ontario and the Yukon have signed an agreement that marks \u201cthe first step\u201d toward deploying small modular reactors in the Yukon \u2013 technology they say could help solve the territory\u2019s energy crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know our electricity grid is nearing capacity, and we\u2019re expecting demand to increase,\u201d Ted Laking, Yukon\u2019s minister of energy. \u201cSo these needs are actually going to get more urgent for us. We need to start coming up with solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Small modular reactors are, as the name implies, smaller than a full-scale nuclear plant. They can be built in factories and transported to communities in need of energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re quicker to build. They are the size of a community centre. They do not take up large parcels of land,\u201d said Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s energy minister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A small modular reactor (SMR) can generate up to 300 megawatts of power, which could double the Yukon\u2019s current generating capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lately, the territory has had to turn back to diesel generators to meet energy demand. Laking says nuclear could present an alternative \u2013 energy that works in the middle of December, but doesn\u2019t create emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a catch: in Canada, the technology doesn\u2019t exist yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will it work up north?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Ontario is currently building and developing SMRs using a design from GEO Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a company based in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
The estimated construction cost of the initial reactor is $7.7 billion, which includes $1.6 billion of infrastructure to create other reactors. Ontario is hoping to see it completed and connected to the grid by 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project has so far received $2 billion from Ottawa and is on the federal major projects list.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Various companies have created designs for small modular reactors. This version from NuScale shows a reactor small enough to be transported by truck. (NuScale Power)<\/p>\n
Stephen Veldhuis, a McMaster University mechanical engineering professor, said there\u2019s a lot of momentum right now around nuclear energy. He\u2019s one of four McMaster researchers awarded grant funding this month to lead studies on small modular reactors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of technology already in place, and there\u2019s really good people working on this,\u201d said Veldhuis. \u201cThis is an area Canada can really contribute to globally.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Veldhuis\u2019 research looks at how SMRs would work in extreme conditions \u2013 like the Far North.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be made in an environment where it\u2019s 30 C and then it could be shipped to an environment that\u2019s -40 C,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so you\u2019ve got to be able to account for that in your design.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is not the first time<\/a> the territory has considered small modular reactors, In 2023, the Yukon commissioned a feasibility study<\/a> which found no major barriers to development.\u00a0<\/p>\n But not all researchers see things the same way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Daniel Fortier, a geology professor at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, said between thawing permafrost and earthquakes, the Yukon is not likely to be a good fit for nuclear energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n With so much of the Yukon’s land mass in permafrost zones, he said small modular reactors that typically generate a lot of heat could risk thawing the ground and affect the facility’s foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fortier said even if an SMR was installed on bedrock, the area would need to be rigorously assessed for cracks and weaknesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDuring seismic events, faults can reopen, they can be displaced longitudinally or they can widen,\u201d he said. “And of course, for infrastructure such as a reactor\u2026 this is not good. We need very strong stability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Veldhuis said those are the kinds of problems researchers are working on.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be able to look at extreme events that are very unlikely to occur, but if they did, we have to be ready for it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s part of what is involved with nuclear engineering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s in the agreement?\u00a0<\/p>\n Laking said the commitment will involve regular meetings with Ontario. This will help Yukon officials understand how to build a regulatory framework and help them answer questions about issues like the supply chain for uranium or waste management.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Ontario has] a 50-year head start on the rest of the country,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so with this new interesting technology around small modular reactors becoming apparent as part of the energy future of the country, we\u2019d like to get ahead of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ontario has signed similar MOUs with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta.<\/p>\n \u201cFundamentally, this is about collaboration on clean energy generation and sharing expertise on Ontario\u2019s leadership building the first small modular reactor in the Western world,\u201d said Lecce.\u00a0<\/p>\n The technology has been operational in Russia and China since 2020 and 2021, but Lecce said Canada is the first G7 country to begin construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about building more here at home and I believe for the North, particularly the Yukon, there\u2019s a desire for improved reliability,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yukon NDP Leader Kate White said any research on the feasibility of nuclear energy in the Yukon should also weigh public opinion.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to have social license to do it, you need to make sure you\u2019re having those conversations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Officials from Ontario and the Yukon have signed an agreement that marks \u201cthe first step\u201d toward deploying small…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-627086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777094954_639_default.jpg\")
Two landslides visible near Mount King George in the territory’s Kluane National Park. Researchers believe they were caused by a severe 7.0 magnitude earthquake in December. (Government of Yukon)<\/p>\n