Atomic Energy of Canada Limited responsible for 12% of national debt

Thursday, January 12, 2006

An excerpt from the opening of a report from Energy Probe, a Canadian consumer and environmental research team, active in the fight against nuclear power, and dedicated to resource conservation, economic efficiency, and effective utility regulation:

Subsidies to Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the federal nuclear promotion agency, are responsible for 12% of today's federal government debt, according to a new study from Energy Probe. Since its inception in 1952, $74.9 billion of today's federal debt is attributable to subsidies provided to AECL.

In a related analysis, the study established that, had our federal government's nuclear subsidies been invested in the Canadian economy, the value today would be $194.6 billion – an amount equal to 11.5% of the value of the Canadian companies traded on the TSX.