Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said on Tuesday that Canada will invest C$970 million ($708 million) in developing a grid-scale small modular reactor (SMR), a new nuclear technology that is a crucial component of Canada's ambitions to cut emissions.

According to the minister's spokesman, the project being constructed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) near Darlington, Ontario, will be the first commercial grid-scale SMR in the Group of Seven affluent nations (G7).