Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
0888 Westinghouse’ Fabricia Pineiro Tresierra took the stage at the supplier symposium in Saskatoon on Nov. 8, 2024.
Editor’s note: There are several more pieces I need to wrap up on the Westinghouse in SK series, but this press release came out March 6 and is a significant development as a direct result of that symposium.
PETERBOROUGH, ONT. – Westinghouse Electric Company announced on March 6 the signing of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with six Canadian suppliers in Saskatchewan to support nuclear new build projects in Canada and around the world. These agreements are a direct result of Westinghouse’s Saskatchewan Supplier Symposium which took place in Saskatoon on Nov. 8. That symposium, organized by the Saskatchewan Industrial & Mining Suppliers Association (SIMSA), provided a forum for potential suppliers to learn about supporting Westinghouse’s new-build projects and technologies.
One of the ongoing themes throughout the symposium was that Westinghouse was very serious about modular components for its new reactors. Specifically, other than certain components that must be large, they sought modules that would fit on a flatdeck truck. That, in turn, would allow those modules to be produced almost anywhere, and allow for easy shipping to end destinations for final assembly.
The MOUs establish the potential for manufacturing key reactor components, including electrical equipment by Team Power Solutions and steel structures by Industrial Machine & Mfg. Inc., JNE Welding, Northern Strands Group of Companies, STC Industrial Group and Venables Machine Works.
One of the points noted during the symposium that Westinghouse representatives had visited several Saskatchewan firms prior to the beginning of the event.
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“Partnering with suppliers in Saskatchewan is a key part of delivering new advanced nuclear to the nation as we’re currently collaborating with the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) to locate Canada’s first eVinci™ microreactor in the province,” said John Gorman, president of Westinghouse Canada, in a release. “Building on the deep expertise and resources of these local suppliers will help us deliver new AP1000® and AP300™ reactors to Canada and beyond.”
Model of an eVinci microreactor, on display in the north end of Saskatoon. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
“Our partnerships with local suppliers in Saskatchewan will not only help us develop and deploy advanced nuclear technologies in Canada, but they also provide these suppliers with access to export opportunities through global Westinghouse projects,” said Dan Lipman, president of Westinghouse Energy Systems. “For each AP1000 unit we build around the world, Westinghouse could generate almost $1 billion of Canadian dollars in GDP through local suppliers.”
The announcement is the latest in a series of agreements with Canadian firms to support Westinghouse’s AP1000 and AP300 projects globally, the company said. The AP1000 is a 1,200 megawatt reactor, while the AP300 is a 300 megawatt reactor. Put into context, one singular AP1000 is equivalent to just under the collective capacity of Saskatchewan’s entire coal fleet, while an AP300 would be equivalent to the Shand Power Station.
Westinghouse is in the process of developing numerous AP1000 projects around the world, including east Asia and Poland. Canada is also high on the list.
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Owned by Canadian energy powerhouses Brookfield and Cameco, Westinghouse said it “is the only nuclear vendor with an advanced, proven and fully operational Generation III+ reactor technology that is ready to be deployed in Canada and generate electricity by as early as 2035. A four-unit AP1000 facility in Canada can power at least three million homes while supporting $28.7 billion Canadian dollars in GDP during construction and $8.1 billion in GDP annually in ongoing operations. The four-unit project would also create 12,000 high-quality full-time Canadian jobs and provide Canadian firms opportunities to support the more than 30 AP1000 units in the pipeline globally.”
Westinghouse AP1000 flyer, in PDF form:
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station. Note, those reactors are AECL-designed CANDU reactors. Ontario Ministry of Energy/Twitter
How this plays into recent developments
Bruce Power has indicated it intends on an expansion of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in that scale of size Westinghouse is referencing- a massive four-unit addition in the 1,000 megawatt-class. However, it has not yet announced if it would continue with additional Canadian-designed CANDU reactors, as it already uses, or if it would adopt a different design such as the AP1000.
Additionally, Premier Scott Moe in recent years has indicated the possibility of developing 1,000 megawatt-class reactors in this province at some point in the future.
Clearly Westinghouse is gunning for the possibility of building AP300 reactors in Saskatchewan. That’s a new design, based on the currently operational AP1000. It’s a 300 megawatt class pressurized water reactor.
Currently SaskPower has chosen the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor for its first potential nuclear plant, planned near Estevan. However, a final decision to go ahead with that project is not expected until 2029. Growing costs for the BWRX-300 is an important consideration for SaskPower, to the point where in January Minister of Crown Investments Corp. Jeremy Harrison announced that SaskPower is going to take a serious look at extending the life of its coal-fired power generation fleet, potentially for decades to come. And even if Saskatchewan does carry on with the BWRX-300, the first unit isn’t expected to be online until 2034 at the earliest. And if the BRWX-300 proves to be too expensive, it is apparent that Westinghouse is positioning itself to offer a competitive product in the same scale.
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