The Society brought its expertise to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP) License to Construct Hearing.
President Rebecca Caron, Executive Vice-President Ralph Chatoor, and Society OPG Unit Director Ryan Reeson presented a strong case in favour of licensing the construction of new SMR reactors at the Darlington site.
The presentation focused on three key areas of interest: environmental protection, nuclear safety, and Indigenous consultation.
We believe that catastrophic climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity. We are already starting to feel its effects. If we are going to mitigate the impacts of climate change, we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels, which means electrifying Ontario’s power grid with emissions-free electricity generation like nuclear. Building new, large-scale nuclear reactors and developing new nuclear technologies like the BWRX-300 at Darlington are important first steps to meeting clean energy targets.
We believe that the Darlington site is an ideal location for building new nuclear. The community is already supportive of the nuclear industry, the region is home to thousands of experienced, skilled nuclear workers, and the site already contains key electricity transmission infrastructure.
Having reviewed OPG’s license application and the CNSC’s staff report, the Society believes that the necessary protections and regulatory hold points are in place to allow us to confidently support the license to construct.
The Society takes great pride in the contributions that Society members make everyday to the safe, reliable operation of the existing nuclear generating stations in Ontario.
We hope that this is the first of many new nuclear builds as we work towards meeting Ontario’s electrification and climate change targets.
Watch the Society’s presentation at the CNSC here:
Read the submission here: https://www.thesociety.ca/the_society_presents_at_the_cnsc_dnnp_license_to_construct_hearing