Globe and Mail- A consortium of private sector companies is teaming up with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to finance a $5-billion ACR1000 reactor in New Brunswick in a test of a new ownership model for nuclear plants that could boost AECL’s international sales.
The project at Point Lepreau, N.B., would mark the first time in the global marketplace that a reactor consortium financed the construction of a plant and continued to own it while selling the power to the utility customer.
The province is eager to see the construction of the 1,200-megawatt reactor, which would supply both domestic and export markets, New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir said in an interview Thursday. The government is still deciding whether to participate with the companies in the financing and ownership of the reactor.