Darlington SMR: Ontario Awards 14 Supply Contracts for BWRX-300

Ontario said on Nov. 6 that 14 contracts for the first small modular reactor (SMR) at Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) Darlington New Nuclear Project have gone to manufacturers in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, covering transformers, pumps and specialized steel.

The province named three of the 14. Armstrong Fluid Technology of Scarborough won a $3.9 million (Canadian) contract for a pumphouse enclosure and pumps. Hooper Welding of Oakville is supplying steel for structural modules, and St. Mary's Cement of Toronto is supplying concrete and running a high-density concrete batch plant on site; their values were not given. Ontario put the contracts' combined effect at over $110 million of provincial GDP, an estimate rather than a contract total, and said more than 100 Canadian companies have now signed agreements with OPG. Canadian Manufacturing reported the same awards from the government release.

Darlington as a Reference for US BWRX-300 Projects

The reactor is GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300, and Darlington is where GE Vernova Hitachi says the first BWRX-300 is under construction. That matters well beyond Ontario. The Tennessee Valley Authority received the first US construction permit for a BWRX-300 at Clinch River on Sept. 29, and Elementl Power, which has a separate 2025 agreement with Google, plans five of the units in Ohio with no buyer yet named for that site. That makes Darlington's supply chain and schedule an early real-world reference for US utilities and data-center buyers weighing the same design. GE Vernova Hitachi calls Darlington the leading project in the Western world; Ontario calls it the G7's first SMR.

What Is Licensed and What Is Funded

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) describes the BWRX-300 as a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural-circulation reactor. It issued OPG a licence to construct one unit in April 2025, valid until March 31, 2035, with three regulatory hold points. The first, covering the reactor building foundation, was lifted on March 30, 2026. OPG applied on March 25, 2026 for a 20-year licence to operate that unit, and the Commission will decide after a public hearing whose date has not been set. The site is planned for four units, which Ontario says will deliver 1,200 MW once complete (net or gross not stated); only the first is licensed for construction.

Ontario's release cites C$1 billion from the province via the Building Ontario Fund and C$2 billion from the federal Canada Growth Fund. The Canada Infrastructure Bank separately lists a C$970 million low-interest commitment, dating from 2022, for Phase 1 design, long-lead equipment, utility connections and site preparation. Canada's federal budget, tabled on Nov. 5, commits more than C$518.5 million to the national nuclear strategy, NucNet reported; the part of its report open without registration gives no project split. Neither Ontario nor the bank gives a total project cost, so no public share can be stated.

What a Licence to Construct Allows

Canada licenses a new reactor in stages. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's licence to construct, issued to OPG in April 2025 for one BWRX-300, authorizes building the unit, not running it. It carries three regulatory hold points: at each, CNSC staff must verify OPG's commitments before work continues, and the first, covering the reactor building foundation, was lifted on March 30, 2026.

Operating the unit needs a separate 20-year licence, which OPG applied for on March 25, 2026. The US sequence is similar: the NRC's construction permit for TVA's 300-megawatt Clinch River reactor also requires a separate operating licence before fuel load. For buyers, the next regulatory step at the first BWRX-300 is a Commission hearing that has no date yet.

What Is Not Confirmed Yet

Ontario did not give the total value of the 14 contracts or name the other 11 recipients. Ontario's release does not give OPG's cost estimate or the first unit's in-service date. GE Vernova Hitachi has targeted completion of the first unit by the end of 2029 and commercial operation by the end of 2030. The next regulatory step is the CNSC hearing on the licence to operate, still unscheduled. OPG is also exporting the model: its Origin Nuclear unit signed a non-binding letter of intent with SGE to operate 14 BWRX-300s in the UK, as Voltgrid reported in October.