Thank you.
I'd like to begin by asking you all to imagine what a net-zero Canada would look like.
In our vision, the transportation sector is powered by non-emitting electricity and GHG-free hydrogen; northern communities, especially remote communities, have 24-7 access to affordable, non-emitting power and heat; Canada has a distributed energy system in which consumers can buy and sell power from and to the grid to meet fluctuating demands; Canada's oil and gas sector uses non-emitting technology to extract and process resources; heavy industrial users rely on abundant, baseload, carbon-free heat and power; and hydrogen production and water desalination are abundant and use non-emitting technology.
Advanced small modular reactors—or ASMRs, as I call them—are one of the only options that can provide heat, steam and power to achieve deep decarbonization in Canada.
For the electricity sector, ASMRs can provide emissions-free baseload power for on-grid or off-grid applications.
In the agricultural sector, ASMRs can provide heat for greenhouses and clean hydrogen for agricultural equipment. They can be used in a cogeneration mode to heat buildings. For heavy industry, they can provide power, heat and steam for large industrial users, and they can provide emissions-free power and hydrogen to enable our transition to the electric vehicle market. For the oil and gas sector, ASMRs can be used to provide emissions-free power and steam for SAGD extraction and operations.
ASMRs are not your grandfather's technology. They use a new form of fuel called TRISO, and I encourage you to ask me about it. The U.S. Department of Energy calls it “the most robust...fuel on earth.”
The design of these innovative ASMRs makes them simpler and easier to transport, which makes them cost-competitive with other forms of generation.
ASMRs also have the smallest land footprint of any emitting or non-emitting technology.
Canada has an opportunity to be a real leader in this emerging lucrative market. We're blessed with a strong and capable nuclear sector and nuclear supply chain in Canada. Our current supply chain can be built out across the country, resulting in significant economic benefits for Canada that will position Canada to take advantage of this market, which it is estimated will be $150 billion by 2040.
To achieve real decarbonization in Canada, we will need to deploy ASMRs as part of a national strategy that should include, one, the acceleration of deployment of ASMRs through public investment capital for both public utilities and private corporations; two, the modernization of regulatory frameworks to provide climate considerations, including streamlining regulatory requirements such as impact assessment timelines; and finally, supporting the Canadian supply chain to develop the capability needed to supply ASMRs and to allow Canada's economy to benefit from early adoption.
In closing, we believe Canada must seize this opportunity to decarbonize a variety of sectors using ASMRs, while at the same time positioning us to benefit from the enormous economic benefits of being a leader in the emerging global ASMR market.
Thank you.