Critics are sounding the alarm on U.S. management of Canada's nuclear labs. Here's why

National Post

3 days ago

OTTAWA — As Canada is pledging to move away from the United States in the defence sector, critics are warning the federal government it might want to take a closer look at a Crown corporation's recent decision to award a contract to a U.S.-based joint venture for the management of the country's nuclear laboratories for possibly the next 20 years.
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On June 12, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) announced that Nuclear Laboratory Partners of Canada Inc. — a partnership with three primary joint venture partners and one key subcontractor — had been selected to manage Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). Those include mainly Chalk River Laboratories, the birthplace of the CANDU reactor.
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The management contract is valued at $1.2 billion per year on average, for six years, but could be extended up to a total of 20 years based on performance indicators.
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Even though AECL's bidding process began in 2023 — long before U.S. President Donald Trump was elected to a second term and started threatening Canada's sovereignty — sources familiar with the matter are questioning why AECL chose to work with firms mainly based in the U.S. to manage Canada's sensitive technologies in the nuclear sector.
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'Given the current circumstances in Canada-U.S. relations, I think it's troubling that a contract of this magnitude would be awarded to a U.S.-based consortium,' said one of the sources who spoke to the National Post on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
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'Now, Chalk River labs are going to be managed by American firms that are deeply involved in the American military and defence industrial complex on the nuclear side,' they added.
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Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, who served as assistant deputy minister for Energy Technology and Programs at Natural Resources Canada, was just as surprised to hear about the contract: 'Why on Earth do we not have the skill set to do this in Canada?'
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'If this government is really serious about protecting our vulnerabilities and building capacity in Canada and strengthening Canadian companies… why would they farm out the management of our precious technology, especially something as unique as nuclear?' added McCuaig-Johnston, now a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa.
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Despite its name, Nuclear Laboratory Partners of Canada Inc. is composed mostly of U.S.-based partners. It will be spearheaded by Virginia-based BWXT — an important supplier to the U.S. Defence Department. The other partners are Amentum — also based in Virginia — and Kinectrics Inc. — a company based in Toronto but bought by BWXT earlier this year.
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Its key subcontractor, Ohio-based Batelle Memorial Institute, is the world's largest research and development organization and manages national laboratories, including for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.