Canada's nuclear industry, employing more than 30,000 highly skilled workers, is in a state of unprecedented turmoil as the federal and Ontario governments separately cast doubt upon its future.
What is at stake is decades of Canadian innovation, significant public profit, and the very existence of a large part of Canada's high-technology sector. It is no wonder commentators are likening the state of affairs to the Avro Arrow, the jet fighter killed by the Diefenbaker government, effectively ending Canada's aerospace industry.
Atomic Energy Of Canada Ltd. (AECL) is a Crown corporation that conducts research, runs the troubled Chalk River facility that until recently produced a large share of the world's medical isotopes, and designs and manufactures Candu reactors.
Candu reactors are unique, entirely designed and built in Canada, and using different, and essentially simpler, fuel and technology than other countries' designs. Of about 440 operating reactors in the world, about 10 per cent are Candu; Canada is one of only five countries that can deliver a nuclear power station anywhere in the world.
And the world is re-embracing nuclear power generation in a big way. China and India are investing billions of dollars in nuclear; many Western nations are planning new nuclear plants. Canada, through AECL/Candu, has the chance to be a major player in that market. Billions of dollars could flow back into Canada with only a small share.
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