A rendering of the Darlington SMR project outside of Toronto for Ontario Power Generation. Courtesy of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy

Mining and processing the oil sands is a power and heat-intensive enterprise, and given their locations in northern Alberta, producing that power and heat on the sites can be difficult, expensive and carbon intensive. However, nuclear power, its unique attributes and a sector energized by the possibilities of small modular reactors (SMRs) may offer a solution to these challenges.