OTTAWA, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The Canadian government announced Thursday it is auctioning off the CANDU nuclear reactor division of the national Atomic Energy of Canada agency.
Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt made the announcement in a news release, following through on her announcement in May that AECL would be split in two, as the CANDU division was too small to be internationally competitive, the Canwest News Service reported.
"Nuclear energy is an emission-free source of power that is experiencing a renaissance around the world," Raitt said. "AECL's CANDU reactor division needs strategic investors to take full advantage of this opportunity, strengthen its global presence and reduce the financial risks carried by taxpayers."
The release said proposals would be assessed to ensure they would provide safe, reliable, and economic clean energy, controlled costs to the government and maximum return on the taxpayers' investment.
No estimate of the division's worth was published.
