Nuclear support triples under Tories
OTTAWA, CANADA - Federal funding for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has tripled since the Conservative government of Stephen Harper came to power in 2006.
Figures provided by Natural Resources Canada show that taxpayers will pour more than $1.2-billion into the Crown corporation during the fiscal year just ending and the one set to begin April 1.
The cash influx comes at a crucial time for AECL, which is in a life-or-death bidding war to build new, next-generation nuclear reactors in Ontario.
The Conservative government is also sitting on a study it commissioned that reportedly recommends privatizing a majority stake in AECL.
Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt says that several policy drivers favour increased federal support for the nuclear industry, including environmental goals, industrial development and value to taxpayers as “shareholders.”
But critics argue Ottawa is putting good money after bad, especially if it plans to sell off the profitable parts of AECL to the private sector.
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Texas utilities struggle to restore power as Harvey hampers progress
HOUSTON - Hundreds of thousands of Texans were without power along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Harvey left parts of the Houston area under water.
There were roughly 280,000 customers without power along the Texas's coast and in Houston and the surrounding areas on Monday, according to reported outages by the state's investor-owned utilities. Harvey, which made landfall on Friday, caused devastating flooding and knocked out power lines along its destructive path.
CenterPoint Energy reported more than 100,000 outages earlier on Monday, though that figure was down to 91,744 shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday.
The company said it was unable to access…
