The selloff goes nuclear

Over the last couple of days, word has come out that the Cons are talking with private-sector "partners" about Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. And while the Cons are trying to pretend that there are no "formal negotiations" worth talking about (even though they acknowledged discussions over a year ago), it appears clear that nuclear energy is yet another area where the Cons are looking to push low-risk profits into the private sector while leaving the public purse to deal with the downside:

Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe, said past partnerships with AECL have left taxpayers on the hook for huge cost overruns and liability for messy production.

Meanwhile, he said, the private company has walked away with the profits. But Adams said Lunn has personally been campaigning to sell off parts of AECL since he became minister of natural resources.

"It's a complete disaster for taxpayers," Adams said. "That's AECL's track record when it comes to privatization, and that raises a major concern about what AECL's up to now."

Given AECL's track record of cost overruns, as well as the valid concerns that surround the use of nuclear energy, this isn't a clear-cut case where the federal government should be looking to continue the current operations of AECL without looking for ways to lessen the risks. But one can always count on the Cons to find a way to make a bad situation worse - and AECL looks to be just one more example of that reality.

After all, the Cons' apparent direction would result in the worst of all words. By actively seeking private-sector investment, the Cons are pushing to increase the amount of funding going into Canada's nuclear industry generally...and correspondingly placing a lower priority on less dangerous and more environmentally-friendly power sources. And while it appears that a private partner would take the profits associated with an added nuclear focus, it's the Canadian public which figures to once again be left on the hook for the obvious potential downsides of future nuclear development.