Atomic Energy of Canada’s GoCo management model will be the subject of a review by the auditor general in 2026-27.
But who will be operating the GoCo contract at that point is still a little bit up in the air.
Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources under Prime Minister Mark Carney, responded last week to an online House of Commons petition originally launched earlier this summer by Ole Hendrickson of the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area.
The petition closed September 8 with 2,495 verified signatures.
It was presented in the House of Commons by Green Party MP Elizabeth May on September 18.
The petition was launched following AECL’s decision to award the next government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) management contract for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories to a group called the “Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada.”
Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada (NLPC) has three primary partners – BWXT Government Group, Amentum Environment & Energy, and Kinectrics Inc – with Battelle Memorial Institute included as key subcontractor, AECL said in its announcement.
NLPC was expected to assume responsibility for CNL, with Dennis Carr as president and CEO, on September 13.
However, that move has now been put on hold while the contract is under review by the Competition Bureau of Canada.
In his petition, Hendrickson said Canada is “poised to award a multi-billion dollar contract – the largest federal contract ever – to a consortium of US companies.”
“Hundreds of millions of dollars in contract management fees would be paid annually to firms that operate US nuclear weapons facilities.”
Hendrickson’s petition called on the federal government to “order the Auditor General to conduct an independent, objective and systematic assessment of how well Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is managing its activities, responsibilities and resources.”
It also wants the government to “prohibit AECL from issuing a contract to Nuclear Laboratories Partners of Canada, or any other private body, until the audit is complete and its results are made publicly available and discussed in Parliament.”
In his response, Hodgson said NLPC was selected as the preferred bidder for the next GoCo contract following a “rigorous procurement process, launched in 2023″…
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