Small modular reactors, commonly abbreviated as SMRs, are energy sources similar to nuclear power plants.

The main difference is the fact that SMRs are much smaller in size compared to conventional power plants, increasing their viability.

It's that viability that is causing SaskPower to look at potential spots for an SMR in Saskatchewan for the future.

To that end, they've been hosting discussions in various communities across Saskatchewan, including one recently for the communities of Estevan and Coronach.

Executive Director for the Estevan Chamber of Commerce Jackie Wall says the talk was informative for the process.

"This one was very specific to Estevan and Coronach, as we are coal transition communities. Estevan is also a possible site selection location for SMR. There was a look at the timelines, the process they are going through, and how this will move forward in the next decade."

That decade timeline just includes the consultation phase, as construction would likely not begin for an SMR until 2034.

Wall says that overall residents were very engaged with the discussion, and wanted to thank them for coming up with good questions during the discussion.

That SMR, if built, would be the creation of a partnership between many different provincial energy providers, says director of planning for SaskPower Doug Opseth.

"SMRs are a really interesting technology that we're doing a lot of work on it in conjunction with our partners OPG, New Brunswick Power, and others, assessing this technology for its feasibility in Saskatchewan. As for locations where something like this might be located, we're in the process of doing that right now." 

 Opseth says they're also doing plenty of work to make sure that the SMR if built, would be safe to help ease concerns about nuclear power.

If an SMR were to be decided on, the date for that would be sometime in 2029.

To see the full discussion between SaskPower and residents of Estevan and Coronach, that's available on the Estevan Chamber of Commerce's Youtube channel.