The Saskatchewan government will be spending $5 million over five years, working with Hitachi Ltd. on nuclear research — including some design work on a small nuclear reactor.
On Thursday, the government and the Japanese company signed two agreements to work together, with much of the research being done at the University of Saskatchewan.
Hitachi will also contribute $5 million.
In addition to reactor design, the work will involve nuclear medicine, materials science and nuclear safety.
The University of Regina, the Saskatchewan Research Council and the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron will also be involved.
Nuclear power has been a controversial topic in Saskatchewan. The province produces most of Canada's uranium, but has no large reactors or nuclear waste facilities.
Following a series of public hearings at which many people said they were opposed to nuclear power plants, the debate about large reactors died down.
However, Premier Brad Wall has said small reactors might be something Saskatchewan could get behind.
Under the two memoranda of agreement announced Thursday, there will be research into the design and feasibility of small reactor technologies.
However in a news release, the government said "any decision on whether to pursue nuclear power in Saskatchewan is still many years away."
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