Saskatchewan’s Minister for the Environment was at the The Canadian Nuclear Association annual conference and trade show this week in Ottawa. With speakers and experts from the industry attending, Minister Dustin Duncan says that the interest in nuclear energy is top of mind with people wanting to see greenhouse gas reduced.

“This is clean energy, a clean energy source that would be a good partner with renewable energy. So we at this point, at SaskPower in Saskatchewan are looking at 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, by to this point pairing renewable energy with natural gas, fire generation. In order to move beyond that 40% we would really need to look at technology like nuclear going forward.”

Duncan states that in the past conventional large scale projects have been looked at but often come with challenges and the public perception of not wanting to move forward with nuclear technology. With small modular reactors Duncan calls the technology next generation.

“It’s smaller in scale so we wouldn’t have those issues of looking for excess buyers for power that’s being produced, and it’s certainly is a way we can achieve deeper cuts in our greenhouse gas emissions .”

According to Duncan this could be a $150 billion industry worldwide, and he says any advancement for nuclear industry has a positive effect in the province, especially when it comes to mining employment. SaskPower’s President and CEO Mike Marsh also attended the conference.

Back in December Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs announced they’ll fight climate change by working together on small nuclear reactors.