Ottawa formally invites bids for CANDU
In announcing the request for "investor proposals," Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt said the goal is to boost AECL's global presence while reducing the financial risk carried by taxpayers.
The research-and-technology division of the Crown corporation, including the Chalk River laboratories and its troubled medical isotope production, are not part of the government sale.
A National Bank study commissioned by the Conservative government determined there is "significant private sector interest" in a stand-alone CANDU reactor business.
However the government may have undercut its own bargaining position when Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief spokesman described AECL as a "dysfunctional" $30-billion "sink-hole" last June.
That same month, the Ontario government put off a decision on new reactor construction after deciding all the bids – including one for an untried, next-generation AECL reactor – were too costly.
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Price Spikes in Ireland Fuel Concerns Over Dispatachable Power Shortages in Europe
DUBLIN - Irish grid-balancing prices soared to €3,774 ($4,284) per megawatt-hour last month amid growing concerns over dispatchable power capacity across Europe.
The price spike, triggered by an alert regarding generation losses, came only four months after Ireland and Northern Ireland launched an Integrated Single Electricity Market (ISEM) designed to make trading more competitive and improve power distribution across the island.
Evie Doherty, senior consultant for Ireland at Cornwall Insight, a U.K.-based energy consultancy, said significant price volatility was to be expected while ISEM is still settling down.
When the U.K. introduced a single market for Great Britain, called British Electricity Trading and…
