Mines could go nuclear in less than 10 years: Panel talks 'reliable, clean and cost-effective' energy being developed partially in Sudbury.

• Date: 01 April 2019
• Author: McKinley, Karen

Nuclear power is grabbing the attention of the mining industry, to the point where there is a real possibility there could be portable reactors powering mines in less than 10 years.

That was the news delivered at a historic panel discussion at the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto on March 3.

The panel included Vic Pakalnis, president and CEO of Sudbury-based Mirarco, which is involved in the development of the technology to create small modular reactors (SMR); Diane Cameron of Natural Resources Canada; Ryan Blinn of Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Corey McDaniel of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ont.; Frank Saunders of Bruce Power in Tiverton, Ont.; and Nathan Tedford from Hatch Ltd., in Mississauga.

Organizer Darroch Harrop, a policy advisor with Natural Resources Canada, said the country is in a very good position to capitalize on growing interest in nuclear technology. It is in the nation's best interest to seize the opportunity to shape SMR technology with the mining industry.

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