The Financial Post reports in its Saturday edition that in Darlington, Ont., construction is underway for the first of four small nuclear reactors, each the size of a football field, with plans to connect to Canada's grid by the end of the decade. The Post's Kamila Hodgson writes that the project aims to cost $21-billion, though critics doubt that estimate. Each reactor could eventually power 300,000 homes. York University's Mark Winfield says: "This is a 'first of its kind' project and we don't really know what it's going to cost. The risks to ratepayers and taxpayers are enormous." The Darlington site is one of a handful of small modular reactors (SMRs) under construction that are being closely monitored by investors and policy-makers. Some believe the technology is instrumental to the cleantech revolution and the future of artificial intelligence. Others think SMRs are a waste of time -- a distraction from cheaper, more efficient technologies. The huge costs involved, they say, are unrealistic. Many designs rely on fuel from hostile or rival states. To date, billions of dollars, both public and private, have flowed into SMRs. Last year, private capital funding for the technology reached a record $2.9-billion.