SaskatchewanPremier Scott Moe confirmed his government intends to move forward with small modular nuclear reactors in a speech Tuesday at the first Canadian Nuclear Association West conference in Saskatoon.Federal government declines to respond to province’s call to pay 75 per cent of first reactor’s costPhil Tank · CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2025 2:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoSaskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, speaking Tuesday at the Canadian Nuclear Association West conference in Saskatoon, said his government intends to move forward with small modular nuclear reactors. (Thomas Simon/CBC)Saskatchewan is planning for a future fuelled by nuclear power, but who will pay the bill remains unclear.Premier Scott Moe confirmed his government intends to move forward with small modular nuclear reactors in a speech Tuesday at the first Canadian Nuclear Association West conference in Saskatoon.Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government released its blueprint for the province’s energy future Monday with a plan that includes a call for the federal government to pay 75 per cent of the cost of the province’s first nuclear reactor.Speaking with reporters after his speech, Moe failed to answer clearly about the federal government’s response to that call.“I won’t say what the response has been,” Moe said. “I think you need to look to the [federal] budget coming out in the very near future with respect to what kind of a commitment we’ll see from the federal government when it comes to the role that they’ll play in us achieving that nuclear energy security.”Ontario’s government estimates the cost of building the first small modular reactor at the Darlington site to be $6.1 billion, but the price for subsequent reactors is expected to drop.Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson’s office declined to respond directly to an inquiry seeking a response to the 75 per cent funding call. An emailed statement Tuesday said the federal government has been a “strong partner” on nuclear development in Saskatchewan, including committing $74 million in 2023 to help develop a small modular reactor.’Unprecedented momentum’Prior to Moe’s speech at the conference, Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel told hundreds in attendance that there is currently “unprecedented momentum for nuclear power” around the world.That momentum follows a severe decline in the fortunes of uranium mining after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, Gitzel said.Moe’s appearance followed his government’s release on Monday of the Saskatchewan First Energy Security Strategy and Supply Plan. The plan lacks estimates for the cost of transitioning to nuclear power and for the capital cost of reactors.The strategy calls for the life of the province’s existing coal-fired power plants to be extended beyond 2030 — which contradicts SaskPower’s previous plan and the federal government’s mandate to phase out coal. Alberta eliminated coal from its power grid last year, leaving Saskatchewan as an outlier.SaskPower estimates extending the life of existing coal-fired plants will cost about $900 million in capital spending and $1 billion in operating costs over the next five years.But Moe said extending the life of natural gas plants will cost more and result in higher emissions in the long run.Moe spoke about energy security at the conference, but declined to mention coal.“It’s not controversial at all,” he said of sticking with coal past 2030. “When you look at what really is a commitment from this province in the electricity sector to be net zero by 2050. We can achieve that.”Moe said keeping gas-fired power plants going to replace the 1,000 megawatts of electricity that would be needed if coal plants were eliminated would cost four times as much. Natural gas generates about half of SaskPower’s electricity.Moe repeatedly mocked the NDP Opposition’s energy plan as more expensive and unreliable even though the plan has not yet been released. An NDP news release on Monday, announcing the Grid and Growth Plan was coming, criticized the government’s plan to spend $1 billion on coal plants.Opposition Leader Carla Beck chuckled at the premier’s criticism of a plan that has not been produced yet.“This is a government that’s had 18 years to deal with this very slow-moving train coming toward our province,” Beck told reporters. “To deal with how we are going to get off coal, to deal with producing energy in this province. They’ve not done it.”The government’s energy plan also includes $6.3 million to advance nuclear research at Saskatchewan’s post-secondary institutions and up to $4 million for a small modular reactor licensing, training and testing centre at the University of Regina.ABOUT THE AUTHORPhil Tank is a journalist in Saskatoon.
Saskatchewan plans nuclear future despite uncertain costs, funding
