Valor Atomics presents progress on Orangeville small modular reactor; council hears safety, timeline and jobs details

Jeff Askewirth, a presenter for Valor Atomics, gave an extended briefing April 15 about a small modular reactor project under construction near Orangeville and answered council and public questions about design, safety testing, transportability and local economic effects.

Askewirth described the reactor as a high-temperature, helium-cooled design in which heat from fission is carried through a cooler rather than using water. He told the council the integrated containerized modules are roughly 8 by 8 by 20 feet and that many components can be moved in standard shipping containers. "It's 8 by 8 by 20 ... that actually it fits inside of a container," he said, noting the plant's modular approach and that several units would be joined on site.

He reviewed construction milestones including foundation work and multiple concrete pours and showed video of recent blasts and bedrock excavation. Askewirth said the company performed extensive non-fueled testing and that fuel testing has been conducted at national sites; he described a company-targeted demonstration timeline and said the demonstration was intended to showcase heat production first and later electricity production.

On licensing and fuel-storage, Askewirth said the company is working through licensure and storage planning; he said the site would store fuel in designated packaged forms and that the fuel material is a ceramic solid designed for high temperatures. Asked about jobs, he said Valor currently employs roughly 120 people on the project (with about 15' 30 living locally), and that workforce numbers would increase with subsequent phases.

Council members asked about water use, whether units could replace local coal plants (Askewirth said they would not replace a full coal plant but could provide modular, on-site power to customers such as data centers), transportability and the expected power output for the demonstration (company figures cited a nominal demonstration output near 100 kW with temporary allowances up to 250 kW in license conditions for short periods).

Askewirth invited further conversation after the meeting and said Valor was committed to transparency and community engagement as construction proceeds.

What to watch

Valor plans continued construction and iterative testing; licensing decisions and any future proposals to expand power production will require regulatory review and public notice.