Dear Colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to inform you that The Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS), and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) are hosting the 1st International Conference on Generation IV and Small Reactors in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on November 6-8, 2018 at the Ottawa Marriott Hotel.

I would like to invite you to participate in this exciting conference, whose theme is “Meeting the Challenges to Deploy next Generation Advanced Reactors and SMRs”.

Generation IV and SMRs can play an important role in addressing the energy, health, safety, security and climate-change goals of the world. Generation IV small reactors have advanced passive safety features, are resistant to nuclear proliferation, have no greenhouse gas emissions, and are promoted as being economically competitive by lowering cost from mass production. They are suitable for niche and off-grid applications, as well as a connection to the electric grid as a supply option to provide incremental capacity as needed to match incremental energy demand. The Conference will have distinguished speakers. In addition, there will be exhibits and booths to showcase your reactor design, products or services.

Since George C. Laurence designed one of the world’s first nuclear reactors at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa in 1941, Canada has built a comprehensive, mature, world-renowned nuclear science & technology (S & T) ecosystem in mosaic capabilities serving broad research needs, within both academia and industry, and that span across the country and across Canada’s industrial sectors.

Please join us in this exciting conference to explore Canadian nuclear S & T capabilities and to participate in discussions on international collaborations, and to keep up-to-date with the latest research in tackling the challenges to deploy next generation advanced reactors and SMRs.

Yours sincerely,
Daniel Gammage, 
2017-2018 President, Canadian Nuclear Society.

CNL is excited to co-host this, the first, Generation-IV and Small Reactor (G4SR) Conference. We would like to extend an invitation to colleagues, partners, developers and all others interested in the next generation of nuclear technology to join us in Ottawa for the 2018 event. Though it is the first G4SR, it builds off the strength of technical meetings we have supported for the past several years. Like Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, this event is transforming and revisiting the interests and needs of its core customers, and the programming is evolving to address these shifts.

Earlier this year, we declared small modular reactors, commonly referred to as SMRs, as one of seven strategic initiatives the company intends to pursue as part of its Long-Term Strategy, with the specific goal of siting an SMR on one of our sites by 2026. We believe in the commercial viability of SMRs, and it is our vision to serve as a global leader in SMR demonstration, testing and technology development support. Success in achieving this goal requires the critical connections that will be formed through the dialogue at events such as G4SR.

The conference promises an engaging, and productive two-full days exploring topics critical to the design, development and deployment of Generation IV and small reactors. It brings together world leaders in technical and non-technical aspects of deployment for discussions relevant not just to Canada but globally. I invite you to join in the conversation.

Dr. Kathy McCarthy
Vice-President, Research & Development, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

Wilson Lam, P.Eng. (Ont), Charter Eng. (UK)
CNS Division Chair – Generation IV and Small Reactor
Technology Senior Advisor, Nuclear Technology Ontario Ministry of Energy

Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS) and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) are hosting the 1st International Conference on Generation IV and Small Reactors. It is our privilege as the Conference Co-Chairs to present to you our exciting Preliminary Conference Program.

The six advanced reactor designs selected for development by the International Generation IV Forum (GIF) are: Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR); Lead-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR); Molten Salt Reactor (MSR); Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR); Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR); and Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR).

Several Small Modular Reactor technology developers (whose designs belong to some of the above Generation IV design categories) have recently established themselves in Canada and initiated dialogue with the regulator, suppliers, utilities, governments and potential customers, for potential development and deployment in Canada. Currently, ten SMR technology developers have applied for pre-licensing vendor design review (VDR) process with the regulator, to gain an early assessment of their SMR design.

Building on growing domestic and global interest, and emerging partnerships among governments and the private sector, the theme of this International Conference is “Meeting the Challenges to Deploy Next Generation Advanced Reactors and SMRs” in fostering low-carbon energy innovation for Canada and the world. As such, it will cover the topics of interest to designers, operators, researchers, analysts, policy makers involved in the design, development and deployment of Generation IV and small reactors for research and power generation purposes.

To start off on Nov. 6, 2018, there will be two timely workshops on hot topics: Integrated Safety Assessment Methodology for SMRs, and Canadian Regulatory Challenges of Gen IV and SMRs,

Dr. Bronwyn Hyland
Program Manager,
Small Modular Reactors

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories delivered by domain experts. The conference (Nov. 7 – 8, 2018) will have four important plenary sessions delivered in sequence by distinguished Canadian and international speakers, plus numerous Technical Program Tracks conducted in parallel over the two days, covering wide spectrum of advanced SMR research and policy topics, with numerous invited distinguished speakers’ presentations on important topics for SMR development and deployment.

A technical tour of the Chalk River Laboratories, hosted by CNL, will be offered to interested attendees on Friday November 9, 2018.

Advanced SMRs are potential game changing technological innovations which can meet the goals for Generation IV nuclear energy systems on sustainability, economics, safety and reliability, proliferation resistant and physical protection. For the benefits of the society at large, the SMR innovations can lead to potential large-scale production of hydrogen, a potential future low-carbon energy source that can provide energy sustainability for the world in replacing gasoline for transportation or natural gas for heating or industrial processes. Just as importantly, Generation IV advanced reactors can potentially lead to technological innovations on reprocessing or recycling of used nuclear fuel or the use of thorium to power nuclear reactors. As SMR vendors and the industry stakeholders work to advance the SMR technologies from the design concept to laboratory testing, licensing and on through to deployment, there will be challenges; G4SR-1 is an international forum for the industry and stakeholders to work together to identify obstacles and opportunities, and seek solutions through dialogue, engagement and collaboration.

The exciting moment to explore the SMR technological innovations has come. We invite you to submit your research papers, join the important discussion with your peers at the conference, and explore the international collaborations in meeting the challenges for future SMR deployments.