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 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 HomeEnergyNuclear race: CANDU reactor maker ramps up lobbying to take on Brookfield-backed rivalDustin Duncan, a long-time cabinet minister in Saskatchewan governments, has joined Canadians for CANDU, a nuclear advocacy subsidiary of AtkinsRéalisDustin Duncan, a long-time cabinet minister in Saskatchewan governments, has joined Canadians for CANDU. Photo by KAYLE NEIS /Regina Leader-PostAs companies vie for control over Canada’s nuclear industry, Montreal engineering firm AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. is marketing its homegrown technology with a former politician leading the campaign.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 AccountorDustin Duncan, a long-time cabinet minister in Saskatchewan governments, has joined Canadians for CANDU, a nuclear advocacy subsidiary of AtkinsRéalis.In an effort to convince decision-makers that its nuclear technology is superior to its rivals, including one backed by Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp., AtkinsRéalis has also been lobbying provincial governments considering new reactors.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 rivalry is huge because the stakes are so big,” said Duane Bratt, a professor at Calgary’s Mount Royal University who studies the politics of nuclear technology.“We're talking tens of billions of dollars here.”AtkinsRéalis is up against a well-capitalized competitor in Westinghouse Electric Co., an American nuclear subsidiary co-owned by Saskatoon-headquartered Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management. The rival is dominating the U.S. market with an US$80-billion deal with Washington for a fleet of its AP1000 reactors.AtkinsRéalis holds an exclusive license from the federal government to build made-in-Canada reactor technology known as CANDU.The company is hoping Duncan will convince his home province to select its Canadian-made technology for Saskatchewan’s first large-scale nuclear reactor.As governments show renewed interest in nuclear power, they have sparked competition between suppliers. But it is still early days in Canada’s market, says Stephanie Diaz, a technology and innovation analyst with BloombergNEF, a market intelligence firm on commodities and the clean energy transition.“There is now a pie to compete for, which hasn't been true for much of the past decade,” says the New York-based analyst.Although the CANDU design is used across all 17 large reactors in the country, it’s not guaranteed that AtkinsRéalis will maintain a domestic monopoly.Cameco is keen to bring its alternative technology closer to its Saskatchewan mines and Ontario’s fuel-conversion facilities.Saskatchewan isn’t the only province considering a new large reactor in the coming decades. Peace River in Alberta has a site under environmental review, while Ontario has two potential sites of its own.AtkinsRéalis’ chief executive has registered as a lobbyist in Saskatchewan and Ontario in the hopes that the provinces adopt its reactor technology. Cameco, meanwhile, is registered in Saskatchewan and Alberta to meet with government.Ian Edwards, president and chief executive officer of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., during an interview in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Tuesday, Sept. 12. 2023. Photographer: Andrej Ivanov/Bloomberg Andrej Ivanov / BloombergDuncan, who works as a strategic advisor to energy firms, is making the case that any new large reactors in the country should stick to the CANDU design, which has an established domestic supply chain.“On large scale (reactors), I think the answer for Canadians should be a Canadian company,” Duncan said in an interview.Cameco, meanwhile, doesn’t see it as a zero-sum game.The company would prefer to have its rival technology deployed in Canada, although any adoption of nuclear is a step in the right direction, says Cory Kos, a vice-president of investor relations and communications for Cameco.“I don't think it would be a path forward necessarily to go straight to one or the other. There is room for two,” said Kos.AtkinsRéalis has tapped Duncan, a new co-chair for its advocacy company, to promote its strategic importance across Western Canada. He’s joined by former prime minister Jean Chrétien and former Ontario premier Mike Harris in his new role.Bratt says it’s not surprising that AtkinsRéalis would bring on former politicians of different stripes to promote its message."They're trying to throw the partisanship away by wrapping themselves in the flag,” said Bratt.The test of this strategy, he says, lies in whether AtkinsRéalis walks away with signed contracts.Cameco says it doesn’t need the same campaign for Westinghouse. It’s confident that its modern fleet can go head-to-head with CANDU on merit, even if the other side leans into marketing itself on sovereignty.“I think you do see a little bit more promotion from the other side to grab ahold of maybe the more emotional piece of it,” Kos said. “And we have a technology we think that speaks for best in the world tech."Unlike all other nuclear power designs, CANDU doesn’t require enriched uranium as fuel.Enriched uranium comes from only a handful of countries. Russia, China, France and the U.S. are the largest suppliers, which raises concerns about steady access to fuel amid rising geopolitical tensions.That will be one of the main points Duncan brings as he meets with businesses, organizations and Indigenous groups across Western Canada.“We don't have to have other countries enriching the fuel to then return back to Canada, so we avoid … the geopolitical issues of the day,” Duncan said.When Duncan was the minister responsible for Crown utility SaskPower, he oversaw the early development of Saskatchewan’s first small modular reactor project. The province chose American nuclear company GE Vernova Hitachi to supply the technology for that Estevan-area project, but it still requires a final investment decision, expected before 2030.Darlington, Ont. is set to have Canada’s first small modular reactor, slated to connect to the grid in 2029. GE Vernova Hitachi supplied the four small reactors for that site.There is no CANDU design for small-scale reactors, which produce one-third of the power of a full-size reactor.Duncan says there’s a place in Canada for other nuclear reactor producers, but only when it comes to filling the gap in demand for smaller facilities.CANDU has lost some favour as a nuclear option in other countries. Out of 73 large reactors under construction around the world, only two are CANDU designs.But when it comes to Canada, Duncan says geopolitical and economic pressures make it all the more necessary to choose the domestic option as the one type of large reactor.“There's a role for other companies,” Duncan said. “I just think that those roles are likely in other countries and not in Canada.”It’s still early days in Canada before competition revs up. It would be surprising for AtkinsRéalis to lose domestic market share when most large countries have relied heavily on its technology, says Bratt.“It was only in countries that did not have a nuclear champion where there was fierce competition."The 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.