17 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, November 6, 2009 Raitt recommends restructuring of AECL By Tim Foran METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP The restructuring of the builder of the Candu nuclear reactors, the Crown agency Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), is necessary to take advantage of a global renaissance in nuclear energy, Halton MP Lisa Raitt told attendees at a meeting of the Organization of Candu Industries (OCI) last Friday morning in Oakville. The Minister of Natural Resources, who is overseeing the restructuring process of AECL, said the agency needs to operate on a commercial basis in order to get access to capital and innovation so that it can compete with bigger, better financed companies in selling reactors worldwide. "Restructuring also benefits the taxpayer quite frankly," added Raitt. She said the current management structure of AECL requires the government to shoulder the front-end investment costs and the risks of business operations. AECL is in the midst of two major refurbishments to its Candu reactors at the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario and Point Lepreau Generating Station in New Brunswick. The agency signed fixed cost contracts for those refurbishments in 2005, but has found the work more difficult and costlier than expected, said Raitt. AECL will honour the contracts, but she said these examples illustrate why restructuring is necessary to reduce the taxpayers' exposure to a risky business. The 70-year-old AECL has built 48 Candu "Restructuring also benefits the taxpayer quite frankly." Lisa Raitt, Halton MP and Minister of Natural Resources reactors around the world, which have a worldwide reputation for excellent performance, but the agency hasn't completed a "new build" reactor sale in years, Raitt added. Raitt did not, however, set a timeline for when the restructuring of AECL would be complete. The Ministry of Natural Resources recently received a consultant's report on the restructuring of AECL and is in the midst of reviewing it, said Raitt. Bob Malcolmson, CEO and General Manager of the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce, said the industry needs a decision made within three months. "We have a world-class industry that's being held back," he told Raitt. With France's intention to hire 6,000 nuclear technicians, there is the potential for a brain drain, he said. Attendees at the conference also expressed concern about the Province of Ontario's recent decision to suspend the procurement process for a next-generation nuclear reactor at the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. The Province's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman, said the bid from AECL to build its new 1,200 megawatt Advanced Candu Reactor (ACR-1000) came in billions of dollars over budget. Raitt said she was disappointed the Province suspended the procurement process, but she said the federal government continues to work through the regulatory approval process with Darlington owner OPG to prepare the site for an eventual reactor. During a roundtable following Raitt's keynote address, OCI President Neil Alexander said there exists a chicken and egg scenario preventing advancement of the nuclear industry in Canada. The successful restructuring of AECL, which would attract commercial investment, depends on the installation of AECL's first ACR-1000 at Darlington, a new technology that has not been deployed yet. But the government of Ontario doesn't want to go ahead with the technology at Darlington until AECL has been restructured, Alexander said. While the stalemate continues, countries around the world are opting for other lightwaterbased nuclear reactors instead of AECL's Candu6 or ACR-1000 designs, he said. The fact that Ontario hasn't selected the ACR1000 creates an impression in other countries that AECL's technology must be too expensive, he added. He said the Province could dispel that notion and assist the industry by offering Darlington as a site for the ACR-1000, but without binding itself to buying the reactor until it is satisfied with the cost and the restructuring of AECL is completed. In an interview, Chris Hughes, president of Burlington-based Laker Energy, said his company is suffering due to AECL's inability to make sales of either its Candu-6 or ACR-1000 reactors. In 2007 and 2008, his operation was running two shifts Monday to Thursday and one shift Friday to Sunday with 23 employees. The company, which manufactures fuel channel components used in the heart of the reactors, has had to lay off 10 people this year as work dried up, its most recent contracts supplying AECL's refurbishment of reactors at Point Lepreau and in Korea. "These are very good jobs," Hughes said. He pointed out the company had to terminate three apprentices in precision machining. "One of them is now working at a Tim Hortons." Hughes was hopeful the Province would select the ACR-1000 reactor. He said it would have given his company the ability to bid on $100 million of related work, and possibly grow from 13 to 60 employees. He said, whatever the outcome of the restructuring to AECL, he believes Canada must maintain a significant ownership in the agency. "I think the general population that regularly deal internationally may not realize the importance of political backing for the sale of nuclear reactors," he said. Since countries buy reactors to last 50 to 60 years, they want assurances from the Canadian government that it backs the technology, he explained. justwhiteshirts 302 Lakeshore East Saturday Nov 7th OAKVILLE GRAND OPENING $15,000 + Give away! 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