Nuclear SMRs could decarbonise Canada’s oil sands sector

But cost and commercialisation timeframes may prove a barrier to adoption

Nuclear energy—and especially new small modular reactor (SMR) technologies—could slash emissions from the oil sands industry in Canada, according to industry experts. Oil sands companies use large amounts of high-temperature heat to produce steam to extract bitumen from sand, both at upgraders at the mine sites and by pumping steam underground to produce bitumen in situ. The heat tends to be produced by burning gas, and as a result the oil sands industry accounts for about a tenth of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. “Some of the SMR technologies presently under development will be producing substantially more high-temperature heat compared to conventional nuclear reactors that are geared f