CanAlaska Uranium (CVV) - World Nuclear Assoc. (WNA) Fireside Chat

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. is an exploration company that prides itself on its hybrid model of project generation and active exploration. The Company is focused on the exploration of uranium, copper and nickel deposits in both the Athabasca and Thompson Nickel Belt regions.

The 2022 World Nuclear Symposium according to Belyk is different from previous years with all attendees highly optimistic regarding the future of the nuclear sector. The role of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the mass adoption of nuclear energy is seen as critical. SMRs can be built much faster than traditional power plants and this adds to the allure thereof. The ability of SMRs to be seamlessly integrated with new or existing power networks enable not only power generation at the point of use, but also the conversion of traditional power plants to nuclear power easily. The possibility of converting a power plant whilst retaining its infrastructure will accelerate the adoption of SMRs according to Belyk.

The three Cs developed by the Director General of the World Nuclear Association Sama Bilbao y León, are to be creative, collaborate and commit to the goal of nuclear energy generation. The collaboration of all parties involved in SMR production and the commitment of companies, governments, investors and the public are needed to ensure the transition to a greener future.

The participation of the Department of Energy (DOE) of the United States at the World Nuclear Symposium shows the commitment of the USA toward the adoption of nuclear energy generation. The USA, having the largest nuclear power generation fleet in the world, will also influence other countries according to Belyk.

WNA and SMRs

The World Nuclear Symposium (WNA) was held between the 7th and 9of September 2022, with various participants in the uranium market attending the event. Cory Belyk, the CEO and Executive Vice President of CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. explains his experience at the WNA as follows:

“Aside from being really upbeat and positive, it's been just fantastic to hear about the marketing side, the conversion side and some of the bottlenecks that are happening with the entire industry right now as we move towards that energy saviour, if you want to call it that. So it's been just a fantastic few days listening to that narrative and how really positive and upbeat it looks for the market.”

One of the most discussed aspects of the nuclear power generation industry is the implementation of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).  An SMR is a small nuclear reactor which is capable of producing up to 300 MW of power per unit. The generating capacity is approximately one-third of the generating capacity of a traditional nuclear reactor. SMRs are entering the power generation sector at an advanced pace according to Belyk due to its modular and plug-and-play design. Belyk believes that the implementation of SMRs is advantageous to nuclear power generation as well as the uranium market.

“They're being built much quicker than those large reactors historically, and even I would dare say, the large reactors are going to pick up pace in terms of their ability to deliver into the market much quicker than they have historically. And that's really some step change there and that's fantastic.”

One of the greatest advantages of SMRs is due to their inherent design, namely being small and modular. An SMR can be placed in a remote location which is not suitable for a large nuclear power plant and can in such a way provide clean energy to remote locations. The advancement of SMR technologies has led to the units being able to seamlessly be integrated with existing power networks, with Belyk explaining:

“We heard a lot from Rolls Royce and Westinghouse, and just what that means, what they're doing. And these are modular units, basically, plug and play and I think that's the key because that is going to allow it to be built off-site. You basically deliver into that infrastructure. Now it can be new infrastructure or what I'm hearing is it can actually be retrofitting some of the coal or gas-fired power plants out there, almost sort of a seamless transition, plugging into that existing grid, making it possible to do this on a much quicker scale.”

SMRs are, according to Belyk, entering not only the Canadian nuclear power generation sector but globally, including Europe and the US, he explains the large-scale implementation of SMRs as follows:

“In Canada, they're putting in some small modular reactors now. And it's going to take about 6 years from decision through the first power and what’s happening at the Darlington plant as an example. But what I'm hearing this week is that's actually happening globally. Whether it's Europe, whether it's the UK or whether it's the US, this is coming and it's coming quickly. And it's interesting to hear that it's actually not just in certain few places, there are demonstrations, it's actually happening. And that's really been eye-opening for me.”

The three C’s and global participation

The three Cs developed by the Director General of the World Nuclear Association Sama Bilbao y León, are to be creative, collaborate and commit to the goal of nuclear energy generation. The three Cs are used as a roadmap to reach four times the current nuclear power generation capacity by 2050. Belyk explains the three Cs as follows:

“Three C's, yeah so how do we get here by 2050? You can't just wait till 2049, you have to start today, start getting in a place so that by 2050, you've got all that capacity of clean energy, which is going to truly make that difference for global warming and the impacts on the planet. So she's got this concept or at least mentioned the concept of the three C's. So it's to be creative, collaborate and importantly, commit.”

Belyk explains that of the three Cs commitment is the most important. The collaboration of all parties involved in SMR production and the commitment of companies, governments, investors and the public are needed to ensure the transition to a greener future.

“The collaboration, I think and commitment piece is really important because whether it's Rolls Royce, Westinghouse, Hitachi, any of them you've got to collaborate to get those units coming to market in different designs. Get it so that it is truly plug-and-play. So not all are really unique but you can actually do this on a larger scale quickly. And then you've got to commit to it, whether it's companies, governments, regulators or the public, commit to that. And we really can get there so those three C's are really important.”

The participation of the Department of Energy (DOE) of the United States at the World Nuclear Symposium shows the commitment of the USA toward the adoption of nuclear energy generation. The USA, having the largest nuclear power generation fleet in the world, will also influence other countries according to Belyk.

“The Biden administration is just committed to helping assist this alone, whether it's at the conversion piece, whether it's about domestic supply or small modular reactors, or importantly, keeping the existing fleet running longer than perhaps planned. And that's supporting all of that infrastructure that's going to allow this to actually happen. So that's been a really big step. And I think that was just announced this week so that's a really big deal. And that's just one of the leading indicators politically out of one, well, it is the largest nuclear fleet on the planet, sitting in the US.”

Market sentiment

The current market sentiment regarding nuclear power generation and the uranium market is, according to Belyk, positive. He explains that due to the industry currently experiencing a shortage in uranium production and supply, the nuclear sector is realising the importance of new uranium projects.

“They are positive because they see what is happening with the conversion bottlenecks everyone talks about. Once that log jam releases, you still have to backfill out with Uranium and primary production. So in our space, the front end, we’re really a spear tip. And because none of this happens without the discovery of new Uranium deposits, without putting those discoveries into production, without back feeding that demand. And if we're talking four times by 2050, four times the nuclear fleet, combining large reactors with SMRs, that's the number that's been thrown around this week as potentially needed by 2050. That's a lot more Uranium, that's potentially like four times the Uranium required. So that is a huge piece to this puzzle, you've got to find it, put it into production and get it to conversion and utilities and that's not going to happen overnight.”

Belyk explains that the current nuclear sentiment as well as market behaviour is different from previous times, with the regional conflict in Ukraine showing the need for uranium production outside of historic sources. 

“I think this is very different from the last cycle. You're going to see a need and that's going to elevate that price of Uranium, it's going to make some of these marginal deposits historically, perhaps come into the market and that's fine. But then you're also going to have the new discoveries that are very high-grade that actually have some size and potential to them around infrastructure as you might find in eastern Athabasca. And those will come to market in about 15 years, 20 years if you discover them today. And that's okay because you're going to have some filling the gap for the next 10 or 15. And then these big ones are going to displace those down the track and that's the key.”

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd Strategy and market future

CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. aims to form part of the uranium market in the future through its continued development of its uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin. The  Athabasca Basin is the world's leading source of high-grade uranium which currently supplies approximately 20% of the world's uranium. Belyk explains the company’s strategy as follows:

“We're trying to find that tier 1 asset, that is going to help feed the Key Lake mill in 15 to 20 years and the value creation is at the front end. So, when you discover one of these big deposits in the Athabasca basin, it's literally the first say 3 to 5 years is where you see that value accretion, then you move into the permitting licensing process. We don't want to produce Uranium.  We want to build value for our shareholders through that discovery and then get it into the appropriate hands through an auction process and take it to market. That's exactly our game.”

He explains that as the implementation of nuclear power generation increases, the supply of uranium will be of cardinal importance.

“You've got a lot of infrastructure build-out in a very short time to actually go where you want to go. And when that bottleneck releases, then you got to start thinking about the front end. Where's that supply coming from? Where's the raw material come from? And yes, at high prices, you'll get it from around the planet, various jurisdictions.”

Belyk believes that the nuclear power generation sector and the uranium market hold vast amounts of potential, with CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. focused to play an important part thereof.

“Small modular reactors are real. And we've got to go out and make the discovery that's going to apply to that 10 or 15 years down the road. The market looks correct. It looks bigger than we anticipated and it's coming. And we're going to do all the right work to help that out.”

To find out more, go to the CanAlaska website