{"id":16335,"date":"2026-05-05T10:19:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T07:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/?p=16335"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:28:28","slug":"esimene-laanemaailma-smr-ehitus-on-kanadas-taies-hoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/esimene-laanemaailma-smr-ehitus-on-kanadas-taies-hoos\/","title":{"rendered":"The first Western world SMR construction is in full swing in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fermi Energia Chairman of the Board, Kallemets, visited the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, located approximately 40 kilometres from Toronto, on April 30th and met with representatives from Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and the construction company Aecon. Kalev writes about how the Western world's first BWRX-300 small reactor project is moving from licensing and planning to actual construction.<\/p>\n

The era of small reactors begins in Darlington<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ontario decided to start its Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programme in 2019, building on the experience gained from modernising the Darlington CANDU reactors. The four-reactor refurbishment programme (total capacity 3500 MW, between 2016 and 2026) yielded 8780 documented lessons, which are now also being applied to SMR construction.<\/p>\n

The technology choice was made by OPG in 2022. From three candidates, the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 was chosen because its technical risks were assessed as the lowest. It is a 300 MW boiling water reactor, with well-known operating experience, licensing process, and fuel cycle.<\/p>\n

The building permit application was submitted in 2023, and site preparation began at the same time. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission granted the construction permit in April 2025, after which OPG made its final investment decision.<\/p>\n

Modular construction<\/strong><\/p>\n

A significant portion of the BWRX-300 components will come from Europe. The reactor pressure vessel steel was produced by Italy's Forgiatura Morandini, the turbine by France's Arabelle Solutions, the generator by GE Vernova's Polish plant, and the polar crane by Finland's Kone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

BWRX-300 <\/em>Modular construction. Illustration<\/em> author <\/em>GE-Hitachi<\/em><\/p>\n

The most innovative element is the reactor building construction, led by Aecon. The building consists of steel modules that are primarily robotically welded together floor by floor, with concrete poured between the waffle slabs, thereby avoiding labour-intensive rebar installation. It is precisely the complexity of the reactor building construction that has been the primary cause of budget overruns on the Olkiluoto, Vogtle, and Hinkley Point projects. On 21st April, the 900-tonne base plate module for the reactor shaft was installed.<\/p>\n

Important lessons<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main challenges identified are a shortage of trained labour and logistical issues, including staff parking.<\/p>\n

Drawing on the experience of the Darlington renewal programme, the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model will be implemented instead of a standard EPC contract. This will unite the contractor, architect-engineer, owner, and technology supplier teams under a single governing organisation, the SMR-X Team. This is the name on the shirts worn by the entire project team, who will work under one roof, make decisions collectively, and share both risks and profits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

On 21 April, the 900-tonne baseplate module for the BWRX-300 reactor was installed. Photo credit: Ontario Power Generation<\/em><\/p>\n

The BWRX-300 is set to become a global standard<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BWRX-300 is no longer just a Canadian project. It is shaping up to be the first truly international small reactor standard.<\/p>\n

The BWRX-300 reactor has been chosen by Poland (approximately 20 reactors), Estonia's Fermi Energia (2 reactors) and US energy company TVA. Sweden's Vattenfall will decide in the coming months whether to choose the same reactor technology. The Japanese Prime Minister has announced his readiness to fund up to $40 billion for BWRX-300 constructions in America, involving its supply chain.<\/p>\n

This international network of experiences will also benefit Estonia. Fermi Energia received confirmation in Darlington that OPG is ready to offer operating readiness development services for the Estonian project.<\/p>\n

SMR construction cost and electricity production cost<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cost of the Darlington small reactor is often misunderstood. The most quoted figure of $20.9 billion Canadian dollars is not the 2025 overnight capital cost (OCC). It is a nominal project budget that includes both escalation and construction financing. This distinction is important, especially when the figure is used in energy system models or compared to OCC estimates found in literature.<\/p>\n

Based on OPG's public data, adjusted to 2025 prices and removing construction period interest, the estimated OCC for the four reactors is approximately CAD 16.28 billion (EUR 10.36 billion), or CAD 12,922\/kW (EUR 8,223\/kW), considering a unit capacity of 315 MW.<\/p>\n

For comparison, the European Commission gave a positive State Aid decision in December 2025 for Poland\u2019s first nuclear power plant (three AP1000 reactors), with an OCC of \u20ac13,400\/kW and a 40-year Contract for Difference (CfD) of \u20ac110\/MWh. Following the same logic, the BWRX-300 OCC (\u20ac8,223\/kW) would indicate a levelised cost of electricity of approximately \u20ac67\/MWh, assuming other factors are equal.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fermi Energia juhatuse esimees Kallemets k\u00fclastas 30. aprillil Torontost ligikaudu 40 kilomeetri kaugusel asuvat Darlingtoni tuumajaama ning kohtus Ontario Power Generationi (OPG) ja ehitusettev\u00f5tte Aeconi esindajatega. Kalev kirjutab, kuidas l\u00e4\u00e4nemaailma esimene BWRX-300 v\u00e4ikereaktori projekt liigub […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":16336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-et"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16339,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16335\/revisions\/16339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fermi.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}