Natural Resources committee  The report was intended to be released with the announcement of the minister in May--

Natural Resources committee  The review was commenced in November of 2007.

Natural Resources committee  There are two things there, Mr. Chair. There were reports from National Bank Financial, which was hired by the department essentially to provide financial advice on Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. I don't have the dates on which those reports were provided to the department; I could get those for the committee.

Natural Resources committee  Again, one has to look at what different partners can bring to AECL. If one looks at the way the industry has reshaped globally over the past number of years, there have been alliances, mergers, and restructuring that have resulted in larger, more integrated, and more competitive companies, with one exception in the domain of nuclear vendors, and that is Atomic Energy of Canada.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I think I would point out two key challenges for a nuclear industry. The first is to establish and maintain a sustained public confidence. That is an ongoing challenge and responsibility for this industry. Of paramount importance is a very strong regulatory framework to ensure it is modern and up-to-date, and that it ensures the safety and security of the public, the environment, and so forth.

Natural Resources committee  It's not a government subsidy in that these reactors have been sold for less than their cost of production. On the way it has worked for AECL in the past, it has incurred costs and been reimbursed by the buyers--utilities or other purchasers. Sometimes export financing was involved, but my understanding is that the projects covered their costs overall.

Natural Resources committee  I understand the concern. Whatever liability has been accrued by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, quite a bit of it is acknowledged on the books. Some may not yet be acknowledged on the books and may be related to potential further cost over-runs in some of the projects. But whatever those liabilities are, they are currently liabilities of the Government of Canada, the taxpayers of Canada.

Natural Resources committee  I am not sure if I fully understand your question. Certainly, those contracts should be honoured. Then one of two things would happen. If there is an obligation on a corporation's balance sheet and a desire to sell that corporation, the buyer will ask us to continue meeting that obligation or will lower the price it is willing to pay by the value of that obligation.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for reminding me, because the question was asked by the member, and I wasn't able to.... Would you have numbers, Tom, historically?

Natural Resources committee  So it's heavy water.

Natural Resources committee  There are no contracts at this time for new builds.

Natural Resources committee  It's a fair question. Obviously, AECL is participating in the Ontario process. There are different prospects internationally that may, at a point in time, crystallize--or they may not. There are no contracts at this time, in part because of what I mentioned earlier: many of those projects are in the United States.

Natural Resources committee  Not HEU; that's highly enriched uranium, which is a different thing.

Natural Resources committee  Let me tread this one cautiously, Mr. Chair. It's an important question. I'm not the expert, so I really want to preface it that way. I think there is certainly a counter-argument to this notion we hear that CANDU is a proliferating technology. CANDU technology is, in many ways, safer than other technologies.

Natural Resources committee  Well, you need to consider the global growth markets and the fact that the corporation does not necessarily have the resources at this time to showcase itself in the best possible light. It lacks risk capital, entrepreneurship, and the scale and skills needed to enter into markets.