Ottawa spends $200 million more on AECL
OTTAWA, CANADA - The federal government is throwing another $200 million at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to cover more cost overruns related to CANDU refurbishment projects.
Ottawa disclosed the amount in a supplementary budget estimate.
The funding, according to the document, "will be used to address a cash shortfall caused by unexpected technical challenges on CANDU reactor refurbishment contracts."
It's the same explanation given in February, when $100 million was allocated to cover overruns. The same month, the federal budget earmarked $351 million to federally owned Atomic Energy so it could continue design work on its Advanced CANDU Reactor and conduct repairs of the troubled Chalk River research reactor.
"That's a total subsidy for AECL in 2009 of $651 million so far," said Shawn-Patrick Stensil of the anti-nuclear environmental group Greenpeace.
"It's telling, when you consider the federal government isn't likely to fetch more than $300 million for AECL as part of its privatization efforts."
Atomic Energy's two refurbishment projects in Canada – the restart of two Bruce Power reactors northwest of Toronto and the overhaul of the Pointe Lepreau plant in New Brunswick – are over budget and delayed.
Related News
Study: US Power Grid Has More Blackouts Than ENTIRE Developed World
WASHINGTON - The United States power grid has more blackouts than any other country in the developed world, according to new data that spotlights the country’s aging and unreliable electric system.
The data by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) shows that Americans face more power grid failures lasting at least an hour than residents of other developed nations.
And it’s getting worse.
Going back three decades, the US grid loses power 285 percent more often than it did in 1984, when record keeping began, International Business Times reported. The power outages cost businesses in the…
