GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Ontario Power (OPG), SNC-Lavalin and Aecon have signed contracts to deploy the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at OPG's Darlington new nuclear project site, the first commercial contract for a grid-scale SMR in North America.

Under the multi-party agreement, GEH will provide reactor design, covering a range of project activities including design, engineering permit support, construction, testing, training and commissioning.

Global interest in the BWRX-300 is growing. In August 2022, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began planning and preliminary permitting for the possible deployment of the BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. TVA has partnered with OPG to coordinate efforts to advance SMR technology. In addition, the NRC and CNSC are working together to license both projects.

In June 2022, Saskatchewan Power announced that it had selected the BWRX-300, which could be deployed in Saskatchewan by the mid-2030s. In Poland, ORLEN Synthos Green Energy(OSGE) and its partners began the pre-licensing process by submitting an application to the Polish State Atomic Energy Agency to evaluate BWRX-300. OSGE plans to deploy a fleet of BWRX-300s, with the possibility of deploying the first of these units later this decade. To support the global deployment of the BWRX-300, GEH has memorandums of understanding or other agreements with companies in countries including Canada, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden. GEH has also begun the licensing process for the BWRX-300 in the UK.

Advanced nuclear technologies like the BWRX-300 are a key pillar of GEH's Energy Transition leadership. In addition to helping customers meet their decarbonization goals, the BWRX-300 is also designed to reduce construction and operating costs to a level lower than other nuclear power generation technologies. Specifically, the BWRX-300 uses a very unique combination of fuel used in current reactors rather than HALEU, combined with simplified plant, mature components and licensed reactor technology.