Frequently Asked Questions

Placing the reactor deep underground adds protection rather than removing it. Hundreds of metres of rock shield the surface from the reactor, and shield the reactor from external hazards like aircraft impact, sabotage, and extreme weather that surface plants must be engineered to withstand. The wellbore itself is an engineered structure: steel casing and a sealed wellhead, built and pressure-tested before any nuclear material arrives. NuWells is designed to work with modern reactor designs that feature passive safety, systems that shut the reactor down and remove heat using natural physical processes rather than operator action.  

Compatible reactors shut down passively; the surrounding rock acts as a massive natural heat sink for decay heat; and the engineered systems isolate the reactor from the environment. Detailed safety cases for specific reactor–site combinations are developed with regulators as part of licensing.  

Protecting groundwater is one of the fundamentals of well engineering.  

Conventional well integrity risks stem from high-pressure hydrocarbon inflow from depleted reservoir formations. NuWells operates on an entirely different physical regime: we are not producing from or connecting to a reservoir, removing the primary mechanism behind conventional well integrity failures. 

Groundwater protection is engineered through defense-in-depth: 

• Zero Reservoir Exposure: Placed in non-producing, stable rock strata without external formation pressure drivers. 

• Multiple Physical Barriers: Heavy-wall concentric casing strings and specialized annular cement seals isolate near-surface hydrologic units.

• Radionuclide Confinement: Multi-tiered radionuclide barriers and sealed closed-loop cooling systems prevent fluid or isotope migration into the formation. 

Underground structures generally experience less severe shaking than surface structures, and placement in competent rock improves seismic isolation. Site selection and seismic design are part of the engineering and licensing process for every location.  

NuWells reactors are designed to be retrievable. At the end of a fuel cycle, typically several years for the reactor types we target, the reactor is brought back to surface and spent fuel is transported to licensed facilities, following the same regulated framework that governs all nuclear fuel in Canada. Longer-term concepts for deep geological disposal are an area of research across the nuclear industry, but retrieval and transportation to an off-site facility is our design basis.  

Because the skills this technology needs already live here. Alberta has one of the world's deepest benches of engineering and geoscience talent, a mature subsurface regulatory framework, an industrial economy actively seeking zero-emission heat and power, and a national supply of natural uranium. 

Our current focus is industrial and remote applications: powering industrial operations, mining, remote communities, defence installations, and data centres, locations that need reliable, low-emission heat and power and often already host industrial infrastructure. Any site would go through full regulatory review, environmental assessment, landowner engagement, and Indigenous consultation before development.  

Not directly. Conventional wells are far too small in diameter. NuWells facilities use new, purpose-built large-diameter wells. However, existing industrial sites, surface infrastructure, and the skilled workforce of the oil and gas sector are all directly transferable, and repurposing legacy energy sites for clean energy is part of our long-term vision.