www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, February 12, 2010 · 36 Tyne president seeks certainty from government on nuclear power n By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF John Robinson says he could expand his business and double the number of people he employs in Oakville. He just needs the federal and provincial governments to make up their minds on where Ontario is going when it comes to nuclear power. Robinson is the president of Tyne Engineering, an Oakville company, which for the last 10 years has manufactured complex computer-controlled equipment and instruments used mainly by the nuclear industry. While Tyne Engineering provides services to both foreign and domestic customers, Robinson said the company is not reaching its potential because Ontario has yet to commit to the building of new nuclear reactors. "The thing is the situation we are in is not producing continuous income," said Robinson. "Right now we get a large amount of income and then there's a valley and a large amount and valley and so forth and we have to be very cautious about biting off more than we can chew so we have something left to deal with the valleys." What's stopping Robinson from having the local support base to expand his business, he says, is a stalled deal between the federal and provincial governments. The problem started in the summer of 2009 when the federally-owned company Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) was chosen by the Ontario government as the only qualified applicant for the building of two next-generation nuclear reactors. This deal quickly broke down when AECL demanded billions more (reportedly $26 billion) than the provincial government was willing to pay for the construction of these reactors. DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER UNCERTAIN TIMES: Tyne Engineering president John Robinson (right) and quality assurance manager Vince Robinson, pictured inside their Wyecroft Road facility. With no movement either way, the competitive process for the purchase of the reactors was suspended June 29 and has yet to be salvaged. Despite the stalled deal, Tyne Engineering Quality Assurance Manager Vince Robinson (John Robinson's son) said Tyne's future is still quite bright with other local contracts available. "We do a lot of work in Chalk River. They are doing a huge amount of construction up there, you go up there and there is a huge number of new buildings being built. We've got a number of contracts building new research and development equipment for Chalk River for the development of new tech- nologies for CANDU," said Vince. "Although their recent priorities may have slightly changed because of the isotope shortage, the main focus of the development of the CANDU industry is still apparent and we feel in general is definitely going to surge." While this type of work is good, it is often on a contract basis, meaning when the job is complete it's time to look for a new job. This local work has proven insufficient and Tyne is surviving on more work from abroad. "Right now for expansion we're looking primarily at overseas markets, which look very bright for us," said Robinson. "It's a pity because we want to work in Canada if we can." Robinson said if a deal was reached for the building of new reactors in Ontario, his company would be presented with a steady stream of work that would allow him to double the number of employees he has from 20 to 40 and expand to a larger premises. In the meantime, Tyne's immediate growth is somewhat stalled. While nuclear energy is not always the most popular power source in town, Robinson is asking governments and members of the public alike to reconsider their views, especially given some of the alternatives. "I've personally spent 10 years working in nuclear power stations and I've never personally seen or been involved in any kind of accident," he said. "The problem of storing spent fuel and waste materials is one that can be resolved in a way that is far better than spraying coal dust and harmful gases into the atmosphere, which you don't do here. At least with the nuclear stuff, it's much much smaller, it's tightly controlled and there are ways to handle it."