On June 29, 2015, on behalf of Natural Resources Canada, Gordon Campbell, High Commissioner for Canada to the United Kingdom, and Lee McDonough, Director, Office for Nuclear Development, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the United Kingdom's Department for Energy and Climate Change. The MOU commits both countries to increased cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy. In recent years, the UK has made nuclear energy development a priority as a means to secure its energy supply and reduce CO2 emissions. The MOU is intended to encourage closer relationships between Canadian and UK industry, research laboratories and other stakeholders at a time of expected growth in the UK nuclear energy market.
The MOU builds upon the work of Canadian companies Candu Energy Inc. and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada (GEH-C), which are already engaged in exploring solutions for the reuse of the U.K.'s civil plutonium and recovered uranium stockpiles in CANDU heavy water reactors.
*With assistance from Aird & Berlis LLP summer student Charlotté Calon.
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