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Is AECL worth anything more than its parts? A fluid and confused political environment clouds the future This is an update to my coverage in Fuel Cycle Week V10:N414; March 3, 2011 by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. More than a year after the Canadian government offered its crown corporation...

AECL’s ACR-1000 Clears Final Phase Of Pre-Project Design Review ( NucNet ) The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has completed the final phase of its pre-project design review for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s (AECL) advanced Candu reactor, according to a summary of the Commission’s report...

Government rejects bargain basement bids by Bruce Power and SNC-Lavalin Group The Canadian government’s efforts to sell the commercial divisions of Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL) appear to have collapsed after the only two bidders, also both Canadian firms, walked away from the negotiating table. The...

The provincial government signs a letter of intent to build a mid-range power station French state-owned nuclear giant Areva signed a letter of intent with the New Brunswick provincial government July 8 to develop a signature ' clean energy park ' near the Point Lepreau nuclear station. The agreement...

The path to commercial success is full of potholes In the past year the Canadian nuclear industry has taken a couple of hits on the chin. These events raise the question of whether AECL is in the ditch or can a government tow truck get it back on the road? The commercial path forward is like an ice-covered...

Harper government offers AECL to the highest bidder After a series of public setbacks, Atomic Energy Limited Canada (AECL) has come to the end of the road. This week the government of Canada put the crown corporation up for sale to the highest bidder. The question is whether anyone will buy it. In 2009...

A Canadian think tank says it knows – there isn’t one Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. ( AECL ) has not had an easy time over the past several years. Despite record levels of financial support from the central government, it has managed to repeatedly disrupt North American medical isotope supplies with unplanned...

What if they held a sale and nobody came? One of the arguments for having the government build nuclear reactors in Canada, via a ‘crown corporation,’ is that the private sector won’t have to take the risks given the enormous amounts of capital needed to pay for them.  That principle is being called...

Harper government and Ontario province dig themselves into holes with AECL as the shovel Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper may come to regret  his blunt language reported in the Economist June 18 in which his spokesman called Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) “dysfunctional.”  The...

A $15 billion project and future participation in global nuclear markets hang in the balance Atomic Energy Canada Limited ( AECL ) is part of one of three mega-consortiums which have submitted bids for the rights to build two new reactors, with options for two more, in the Toronto suburb of Darlington...

A $15 billion project and future participation in global nuclear markets hang in the balance Atomic Energy Canada Limited ( AECL ) is part of one of three mega- consortiums which have submitted bids for the rights to build two new reactors, with options for two more, in the Toronto suburb of Darlington...

Company still has a long-term relationship with AECL The Toronto Star reports that GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy told the Ontario government it will not bid on construction of a new nuclear power plant in the province. There are still a lot of decisions to be made. It isn't over until the fat lady sings...

A four way competition in the UK is down to three Atomic Energy of Canada announced that it is pulling out of the four way competition for sales of new reactors in the UK's massive new build of nuclear energy power stations.  According to wire service reports , the Canadian state-owned firm...

New customers and limits on natural gas for tar sands region may make the difference Bloomberg wire service reports that Bruce Power , the only non- government owner of a Canadian nuclear plant, filed an application to prepare a site for the first nuclear power plant in Alberta. The wire service reported...

Is the reactor group a marketable item? The future of Atomic Energy Canada Limited ( AECL ), a crown corporation, is in a state of flux according to a series of terrific news reports by the Globe & Mail. The newspaper reports that the government of Canada has put a "for sale" sign out on...

Go ahead for reactor depends on the financial future of AECL The Toronto Globle & Mail reports that a consortium of private sector companies is teaming up with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) to finance and build an ACR1000 reactor in New Brunswick. It will be a test of a new ownership model...

CEO resigns following a global medical meltdown Hat tip to Ruth Sponsler at We Support Lee Users of nuclear isotopes worldwide can breathe easier this week following action by the Canadian parliament to re-start AECL's 50-year old Chalk River , Ontario, reactor. It is the source of more than half...

Energy Alberta Reaches for the Brass Ring By Dan Yurman, Contributing Reporter Fuel Cycle Week V6 N245 September 11, 2007 Energy Alberta, an entrepreneurial merchant utility, said in late August that it had filed an application with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to build a nuclear power plant...

Atomic Energy of Canada to Build More Than Eight Reactors by 2020 Bloomberg wire service reports Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the only maker of power plants that don't need enriched uranium, plans to build more than eight reactors by 2020 as orders pick up after two-decades of suspended animation. The...