The Drift: Could the Mining Industry Consider the Nuclear Option to Power Remote Mines?

Research institute at Laurentian University is investigating how small reactors could replace diesel production in the far north

Is there a viable marriage between mining and nuclear power? The researcher at Laurentian University, François Caron, wants to find out.

There are 10 off-grid mines in remote areas of Canada, most of which rely on diesel generation.

This will be a no-go in the years to come as the mining industry faces increasing pressure from society, government to climate change and even environmentally conscious investors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint.

In order to be able to supply potential greenfield mining camps with electricity where the mains electricity is insufficient, the option of nuclear energy is increasingly being examined.

Caron, the director of the energy center at MIRARCO (Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation, and Applied Research Corporation), a research branch at Sudbury University, helps put the pieces together.

Caron was the lead author of a new study examining the feasibility of using very small nuclear reactors (vSMRs) to run a mining operation in a remote, off-grid location.

“The mining companies are very, very curious,” said Caron, who also holds the title of Bruce Power Chair in Sustainable Energy Systems at MIRARCO.

Small nuclear reactors are categorized with an output of up to 300 megawatts. The very small nuclear reactors (vSMRs), a sub-category of the reactors examined in this report, produce up to 10 megawatts per module.

An unnamed mining company operating in the Arctic provided data for the study involving a hypothetical mine with a mine life of 14 years.

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The company helped fund the research in part with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CIL).

Part of the economic rationale has been to see if these remote operations can be run on nuclear power alone or in combination with other fuel sources such as wind power and battery storage technology.

Caron’s research has shown that the cheapest method is to use a mixture of nuclear power and diesel.

Nuclear energy generated from vSMRs could be used 90 percent of the time – as a base load energy source – with diesel increasing the peak demand for electricity, for example for winter heating. It is considered a reliable and consistent energy mix.

Compared to today’s pure diesel power used in remote mines, this mix would reduce emissions by 85 percent. Despite its greenhouse gas emissions, diesel is considered a more reliable source of energy – because it is easier to turn on – than more environmentally friendly alternatives such as wind power.

The report said emissions could be further reduced by adding other renewable energies to the mix – rather than using diesel. The disadvantage, however, is that the operating costs increase slightly.

The type of reactor they are using in the study was developed by USNC Power, a Seattle-based supplier of micromodular nuclear reactors.

The maximum operating life of the reactor is up to 60 years – possibly the life of a real mine – with the reactor cores being replaced every 20 years. These modules are then dismantled and transported away for proper disposal.

One of the advantages of vSMRs is that they can be easily delivered to a remote location, on a flat bed truck, or by barge on a waterway. The reactor core, said Caron, was the size of a refrigerator. VSMRs are also scalable.

One reactor module could be used for the actual mining operation, one for the processing plant and another for the workers’ accommodation camp. Any excess electricity or an additional module could serve a neighboring community.

Another advantage is that nuclear energy is also not susceptible to extreme fluctuations in fuel prices. Then there is always the risk of spillage and the costs associated with soil remediation.

Making and installing a vSMR is an expensive undertaking, so more work has to be done on the cost side. But the unit costs for energy decrease over time and as more energy consumers are added.

So far, according to Caron, there have been many positive contacts with three mining companies interested in the use of nuclear energy, none of them with mines or projects in the far north of this province.

“The mining companies we deal with have no connection with the Ring of Fire.”

Prior to joining Laurentian in 2000 to work in the fields of biochemistry, environmental and geosciences, Caron was a scientist at Atomic Energy of Canada specializing in waste management systems, environmental research, reactor emissions reduction and reactor chemistry.

The Caron and MIRARCO paper builds on other studies examining whether nuclear energy can work in mining camps in the far north.

Hatch engineering firm published a feasibility study for the Ontario Department of Energy on small reactors in 2016. NRCan pushed the conversation forward in 2018 with its SMR roadmap study.

Caron said it will be a while before people start seeing mining companies adopt this technology for the field.

“We’re not quite at this stage yet. It’s still conceptual. We’re getting closer to the real dollar numbers.”

A demonstration facility is in the works to prove this technology. One is planned at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratory in Chalk River, a two-hour drive east of North Bay.

Ontario Power Generation and USNC are working together to build and operate such a model plant for future small reactors.

The Global First Power project received approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in May to move into the next phase of licensing with the start of a technical review and bring the test facility closer to construction. The realization of the project depends on federal funding.

According to the project timelines, construction is expected to begin next year and the reactor will be operational by 2026. It has been suggested that vSMRs are such an attractive source of energy that they could be deployed in the field by the second half of this decade.

Caron prefers to wait and see what happens to the Chalk River demonstration project.

He acknowledged the need for wider discussion, engagement and education about the use of nuclear power in remote and sensitive areas of Canada. The mere mention of nuclear power has stigma and associated fears.

Caron noted that there had been informal discussions about evaluating other similar small reactor types from other vendors that could be ready in two or three years.

OPG’s Darlington Nuclear Power Plant is referred to as a small grid-connected reactor and Bruce Power has expressed an interest in operating one.

In Russia, a year and a half ago, the state-run Rosatom placed a small floating reactor on a barge that was commissioned in northern Russia to supply a city with electricity. Rosatom plans to build a small land-based nuclear power plant in the eastern Russian Arctic with the goal of generating electricity from a 50-megawatt power plant by 2028. This will double the electricity costs in this region.

Caron said more studies need to be done on the larger business case, such as how nuclear waste should be disposed of in Ontario, is all beyond the scope of his current work.

The Drift features profiles of the people, companies and institutions who make an important contribution to the Greater Sudbury mining sector. From exploration, operations and remediation to research and innovation, this series covers the breadth of mining-related expertise that emerged from one of the richest mining camps in the world and is now exported around the world.