Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeEnergyCameco welcomes nuclear strategy to make Canada a ‘global powerhouse’The national strategy aims to build up to 10 new large-scale reactors in Canada and four more reactors abroad over the next 15 years You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Cameco Corporation, with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is the World's largest uranium producer. Photo taken in Saskatoon, Sask. on April 30, 2025. Photo by Michelle Berg / Saskatoon StarPhoenixCanada’s newly unveiled nuclear energy strategy positions the country’s largest players — Cameco Corp. and AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. — to benefit from the deployment of large reactors.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThat growth will come in both the domestic and global markets, says the president of uranium mining giant Cameco.The federal government signaled its willingness to invest in research and development, finance new reactors and support industry to become what it calls a “global supplier and exporter of choice.”The strategy aims to build up to 10 new large-scale reactors in Canada and four more reactors abroad over the next 15 years.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“The minister articulates a vision of the Canadian nuclear industry, not just being a domestic powerhouse, but also a global powerhouse,” said Grant Isaac, president and chief operating officer of Cameco.The federal government is looking to leverage strengths, including high-grade uranium deposits mined in northern Saskatchewan. The strategy also leans on made-in-Canada reactor technology known as CANDU, a federally owned design licensed to Montréal engineering firm AtkinsRéalis.The government sees an opportunity to expand outside of the Canada-designed technology, something Cameco supports, given that it owns a stake in nuclear energy firm Westinghouse Electric Co., which makes a competing system.Canada wants to be involved in the non-CANDU supply chain globally, in order to land at least five large or small modular reactors by 2040, the federal government stated as a key objective.“We are taking action to ensure we have a coordinated, strategic approach to diversifying nuclear industry exports,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson said in a prepared release.Cameco’s president says diversification is necessary because Canada can’t regard itself as a global energy superpower if it stays devoted to supporting only CANDU, which makes up less than 10 per cent global market share.“This is both a domestic energy security strategy as well as a global energy diplomacy strategy,” said Isaac.Cameco, the Saskatoon-headquartered uranium mining and milling company, is vertically integrated, providing fuel to power all types of nuclear reactors. The company also jointly owns Westinghouse, which makes a pressurized water reactor known as the AP1000, along with partner Brookfield Asset Management.“Our ambition should be to deploy AP1000 reactors in Canada as aggressively as possible on a fleet scale to build up the Canadian supply chain around this technology, which is the most sought-after technology globally,” Isaac said in an interview.The AP1000 is another type of reactor which uses pressurized water and requires enriched uranium. Nearly 70 per cent of reactors around the world are in this design category.Arthur Situm, the Canada research chair in small modular reactor safety and licensing, said while CANDU makes up a sliver of the market, some countries favour it for ease of buying unenriched uranium or for nuclear applications in medical imaging and treatment.“They probably will never dominate,” Situm, also an assistant professor at the University of Regina, said of CANDU. “But they do serve a series of niches that cannot necessarily be filled by light water reactors, and so they’ve seen their market share persist for those reasons.”A nuclear reactor is a quasi-permanent piece of infrastructure, and the technology is a form of “soft power” because it requires a long-term relationship between countries to service equipment years after the first reactors are exported, Situm says.“When you build a reactor, you’re essentially making a 100-year investment within that technology as they’re built today,” he said in an interview.Cameco’s president sees a strong preference in the global market for the alternative, however. He says all but two of the 73 reactors in construction are light water reactors. One of those is in Darlington, Ont.“The world has spoken,” he said.nyking@postmedia.comThe Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.