CBC — The Harper government is expected to announce the sale of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to SNC-Lavalin Group of Montreal, ending a federal withdrawal from the nuclear energy business that has been in the works since 2009.The anticipated sale would include the Candu reactor business but not the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor unit that makes medical isotopes and does research.
An announcement could come as early as this week, media reports said, although final details are still being worked out.
Engineering giant SNC-Lavalin is the sole remaining bidder in a process that saw Bruce Power walk away in January.
AECL has had a troubled decade. The supply chain that supports it has been laying off workers, as sales and profits dwindled.
In May, AECL workers were told by their union, the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates, that it had been in confidential talks with "the potential buyer of AECL," but that the buyer wasn't yet in a position to conclude a deal.
The SPEA said AECL must disclose any new investor's business plans and workforce adjustment plans as part of the collective bargaining process. It said the potential buyer wasn't yet prepared to do that.
"Rumours … that the deal with the new buyer has been signed and just requires the federal government’s stamp of approval … are not correct," it said.
"As we reported on May 5th, there are still some issues (potential stumbling blocks) that have not been resolved, though we do not know what those issues are."
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Source: Huffington
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