Some big industry news is coming out of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River. CNL has selected the first recipients of the Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative. The corporation says this will speed up the deployment of small modular reactors in Canada by allowing research, development and connecting other global reactor technology companies within Canada’s national nuclear laboratories. CNRI recipients will be able to optimize resources and share technical expertise to advance the commercialization and deployment of SMR technologies. In a statement, Dr. Kathryn McCarthy, Vice-President of Science and Technology at CNL says they have made significant progress over the past three years to position Canada as the hub for small modular reactor research. CNL says it received a strong response to the announcement of the initial intake, receiving applications from key players in the SMR industry in Canada and abroad. Submissions were accepted based on a list of designated focus areas, including market analysis, fuel development, reactor physics modelling, transportation, and others. Applicants are required to match funds and in-kind contributions that will be made by CNL. The successful applicants were Terrestrial, USNC, Kairos and Moltex.