Interesting synopsis Angelica. Very interesting! But one aspect is being overlooked; the fact that the Canadian government sold the technology to a private firm, subsequently in a lot of hot water for bribing foreign governments in exchange for lucrative contracts.
The tech was sold for a penny on the dollar and the firm has been simply milking it, not investing in R&D not CANDU sales. So it seems that the tech will die a slow death unless it can be resucitated. Can the government claw back the IP? Is there enough experience remaining? Does refurbishment experience count towards new builds? Key questions that deserve answers.
To my understanding the business and a license to the IP was sold, but actual ownership stays with the government. We would need a government with some actual vision to move forward though, and none of our parties have more than handwavy support of nuclear at best.
Interesting read, outlaw.. :) thanks.. I’ll have to look more at this… FYI… your ex grandfather in law is from New Brunswick
A good article! I'm pretty sure that South Korea has some CANDU reactors that use spent nuclear fuel from their PWR's.
Thank you Joe! Yes, I hope Korea can make that happen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolseong_Nuclear_Power_Plant
Yes indeed...more people should know about this tech!
Interesting synopsis Angelica. Very interesting! But one aspect is being overlooked; the fact that the Canadian government sold the technology to a private firm, subsequently in a lot of hot water for bribing foreign governments in exchange for lucrative contracts.
The tech was sold for a penny on the dollar and the firm has been simply milking it, not investing in R&D not CANDU sales. So it seems that the tech will die a slow death unless it can be resucitated. Can the government claw back the IP? Is there enough experience remaining? Does refurbishment experience count towards new builds? Key questions that deserve answers.
To my understanding the business and a license to the IP was sold, but actual ownership stays with the government. We would need a government with some actual vision to move forward though, and none of our parties have more than handwavy support of nuclear at best.
Is there any documentation about this you could point me to? That would be much appreciated!
I only vaguely remember reading this in press releases at the time, sorry not sure where to point you.
No worries. Inquired on twitter and got this: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/aecl-sold-for-15m-to-snc-lavalin-1.985786#:~:text=The%20federal%20government%20announces%20a,nuclear%20reactor%20sales%20and%20servicing