Prodigy to Deploy Up to 50 MW Transportable Nuclear Power Plant in Canada

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 1, Prodigy Clean Energy, together with Pabineau First Nation and Eel River Bar First Nation, announced a new nuclear power development proposal to deploy a Prodigy transportable nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to 50 MW in the Belledune area of New Brunswick. The three parties have signed an exclusivity agreement, with the two First Nations proposed to own the demonstration project, which is planned to enter service in the early 2030s.

The proposal includes a commercial power generation facility and a supporting campus. The campus will house a centralized operations and maintenance center for monitoring, servicing, and training personnel for transportable nuclear power plants deployed across northern Canada. Prodigy Clean Energy estimates that the plant's peak output could meet the electricity demand of up to 40,000 households, with site preparation expected to create more than 150 jobs and operations phase providing approximately 40 long-term positions.

The Government of New Brunswick has signed a letter of intent to purchase electricity from the project and has submitted a notice of support to Natural Resources Canada, with plans to advance the project into the federal Impact Assessment Agency of Canada review process. The power purchase arrangement is currently at the letter-of-intent stage, and the project has not yet obtained a site preparation license.

The Prodigy transportable nuclear power plant features a reactor technology-neutral design capable of integrating various types of small modular reactors or microreactors. The marine-based unit is not an ordinary barge carrying a reactor, but rather a specialized offshore prefabricated structure designed to house an operating reactor. The unit is planned to be assembled at a factory and transported to the site by heavy-lift vessel as dry cargo, with fuel loading and commissioning with nuclear fuel to take place upon arrival. The company estimates a manufacturing, transportation, and on-site installation cycle of approximately 18 months.

Over the coming months, the project team will establish a project owner entity, conduct site selection and site characterization surveys, and ultimately select a reactor technology capable of achieving commercial power generation by 2032. The project will also procure a qualified nuclear operating organization to serve as the facility license holder and prepare a site preparation license application for submission to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The project has set a target of reaching a final investment decision within 18 months.