The Saskatchewan government will spend $30 million to create a new nuclear research centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.

The money, to be spent over seven years, will be used to expand nuclear medicine but also materials science and small reactor design, Premier Brad Wall said in a news release.

University of Saskatchewan president Peter MacKinnon said the research centre will focus on nuclear science and engineering, materials and neutron science and nuclear health sciences.

There will be new staff hired and academic programs added in nuclear engineering, nuclear and reactor physics and radiochemistry, MacKinnon said.

The money will add to the existing nuclear research infrastructure on campus, which includes the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, the SLOWPOKE research reactor and the STOR-M Tokamak device, MacKinnon said

In January, the province and the federal government also pledged $12 million for new equipment and research aimed at making medical isotopes at the synchrotron.

In 2009, public hearings were held that looked at the possibility of building a massive nuclear power plant in Saskatchewan.

The government later said it wouldn't move forward with that idea, although small reactors were still a possibility.