With the announcement of a deal to allow Canadian firms to engage in bilateral trade in nuclear technologies with India, it is incumbent on Canada to look at what this will entail before finalizing this agreement.
First, let us remember that India still refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), and that Canada specifically cut trade in nuclear technology to India after 1974 when India used Canadian technology to build weapons. Now, obviously the world - and India - has changed since then, and perhaps an argument could be made that India's decision to enter the nuclear sphere was a valid response to Pakistan’s own quest to become a nuclear power which had begun two years prior. But even if one accepts this in consideration of India's need to defend itself, it remains troubling that India still refuses to sign the NNPT. This represents an abject refusal to agree not to further distribute this most dangerous of technologies. India has instead only agreed to terms with the IAEA to classify 14 of its 22 nuclear power plants as being for civilian use and to place them under IAEA safeguards, and the terms of the deal intend that any further power plants should also be under IAEA watch.
So the next immediate question is exactly what sales to India does the Harper administration wish to allow? Certainly Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) would love to sell a few more reactors, however it seems doubtful that this would be India's prime goal. India already has Canadian heavy-water reactor technology from the previous sales and continues to use that technology in the reactors that it builds today. It may well consider purchasing a reactor, but could just as easily be thinking bigger. After all, we must not forget that just this past summer the Conservatives announced their desire to privatize Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL). More specifically, the intent is to split the AECL up before selling it. To retain the research divisions and sell off the commercial side which markets CANDU reactors.
So if the government wishes to sell AECL, why would Stephen Harper be dedicating so much time and diplomacy to open channels to try sell their product? In the hopes that this makes AECL more saleable in general? Or to engineer the sale itself? After all, the world market for manufacturers of nuclear technology isn't that big. Perhaps one of AECL's two market rivals (AVENA and Westinghouse) might be interested, but if so this would only be to kill a competitor as they both market light-water reactors and have no apparent interest in the CANDU heavy-water technology. If either of these two purchased and killed the AECL, it would throw tens of thousands of Canadians out of work with few options in their field. There is only one other main manufacturer of heavy-water reactors which might retains at least some of the AECL workforce, and it is indeed India. Clearly there is a market synergy for such a sale in play.
What then would be the future of nuclear research in Canada? This is, after all, a field in which we have a long and distinguished pedigree. Since 1902 when McGill University researchers Rutherford and future Nobel winner Soddy first observed radioactive decay and coined the term half-life, through the National Research Council's pioneering work which led to the creation of the Chalk River heavy-water research reactor in 1944, Canada has been on the forefront of nuclear technology. It was thanks to the research at Chalk River that the first patients in the world treated with Cobolt 60 for cancer were treated right ere in Canada. The medical technology developed from those earl experiments eventually sold around the world to the great benefit of all mankind. Since then, Canada has remained on the forefront of nuclear medicine, manufacturing over 50% of all medical isotopes used.
But to this government, it is only the bottom line that matters. Pure research is deemed an economic waste. So it was that in June of this year Harper's office called the AECL a "30 Billion dollar sinkhole" and pledged that when the Chalk River research reactor reaches it's end of life in 2016, that there will be zero further dollars made available to fund ongoing research. No dollars to replace it with a new research reactor. This spells the end of nuclear research in Canada, and our exit from the medical isotope industry. So why retain the research side of AECL when marketing the company for sale if the government no longer wishes to fund nuclear research? We do not wish to part with our researchers but we also don't want them to continue their groundbreaking and lifesaving work?
If this is to be the case, Canada will go from being the first country in the world with a research reactor to a country with no research reactor. From the country that invented many of the nuclear cancer treatments in use today to a country with no ongoing nuclear medical research. From a country which owned 50% of the isotope market to a country that has walked away from the entire industry. From a country with an exporter of nuclear technology to an importer. From a country who lived up to it's nonproliferation treaty obligations to a country that sold it off it's technology to a country which refuses to accept the premise of nonproliferation. All this at a time when more and more countries are turning towards nuclear technology as part of their strategy to replace fossil-fuel-based power generation, and a time when the security of this technology seems ever more important.
If nuclear technology were analogous to our aviation industry, this could well be it's Avro Arrow moment, and in today's competitive technological market, Canada can scarcely afford to give away another entire industry.
Comments
First off India has a no first use policy. Secondly India does did not sign the NPT not because it intends to spread nuclear weapon technology but because of the retheroic in the treaty. Specifically because "the NPT creates a club of "nuclear haves" and a larger group of "nuclear have-nots" by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, but the treaty never explains on what ethical grounds such a distinction is valid."
That is the reason why India did not sign the NPT. Also I think you should me more worried about the unstable Pakistani government and its nuclear stockpiles than a stable democratic country with the second fastest growing economy like India.
Signing up for NPT involves signing up as a non-nuclear weapon state (ie giving up nuclear weapons) since the P-5 (nuclear weapon states: US, Russia, China, France UK)are not ready to admit new members as weapon states. So harping on India not signing up for NPT is obviously absurd. The pragmatic view taken by the US and Nuclear Supplier's Group (a nuclear cartel) of which Canada is also a member, was that India should agree not to proliferate the technology, to which India agreed since its last 35 years' practice had already demonstrated it. (Unlike China which has demonstrably participated in proliferation to Pakistan and through Pakistan to Iran and North Korea. Canada and Australia have beeen trading (nuclear materials)with China but were refusing to do so with India. What Harper is doing, subject to ratification by Canadian Parliament, is to correct this absurd situation, while Kevin Rudd still has his head buried in sand. Brownie points won with a fast growing India will help Ca.
As published by my organization CANADIAN HINDU ADVOCACY in the FINANCIAL POST last week, it is obvious that India's nuclear technology is far superior to Canada's. The article is entitled 'Sell AECL to India'. It will answer all your questions. Enjoy!
CANADIAN HINDU ADVOCACY
In regard to the neolocolonialist NPT, based on an outdated post-1945 world order, which India correctly rejects and issues of nuclear proliferation, I am astonished at the glaring omission of the case of Israel. France and the UK which colluded in the colonial invasion of Egypt in 1956, in the 1960s helped the Zionist colonialists acquire n-weapons and the USA keeps silent on this outrage even though its own secrets have been stolen by Mossad.
Surely, Israel is the main source of political instability in the world and most likely to ignore the rest of the world in its own tribal interest and use N weapons. Western hypocrisy knows no bounds.
China, Iran, Libya, N Korea signed NPT and then proliferated. INdia never signed NPT and never proliferated. So what good is NPT? Does signing NPT means you are responsible?
INdia is not signing NPT cuz it doesn't want to be pushed in to 2nd class citizen in world community. India believes world wide denuclearization and complete elimination of nukes. NPT is not addressing these issues.
INdia's track record for last 40 years is better than most of the NPT signatories. Recent unanimous clearance given by NSG and IAEA is testament to this.
Every country makes their own policies and visions. We respect Canada's policies and visions. We can find common areas and improve our relations.
THANK YOU the nuclear agreement!
I think that most of you are missing the main point of the article which is about the possible loss of Canada's entire nuclear research industry under this government's current stated plans for AECL. Given this governments track record of allowing Canadian IP to be sold away at bargain-bin prices (hello Nortel!), it is a justifiable worry.
Yes the NPT is flawed, and yes India has a better record than most, but their history is not pristine. They have long ties to Iran's programs including the aborted sale of a reactor, and only in 2007 put a stop to selling technology to Iran. India also has a history of dishonesty in dealing with the acquisition of nuclear technology from the '74 dealings with Canada, the black-market purchases of heavy water during the moratorium, right up until last year when four were caught in the US smuggling ballistic missile components to the Indian government.
It was Canada that India burned in ’74. Don’t expect us not to have some worries.
If Harper pushes our technology to India, it is to keep our technology working as clean energy, if not Russia and a host of other countries will be more than willing to sell it to India. At least our technology when it is used properly, reduces pollution and coal fired plants. Perhaps Harper is offering India that alternative as one of the most polluted countries on the planet.
Of course, many forget, the Liberals under Prime Minister Trudeau's and his National Energy Program, whereby Trudeau and his cronies took it upon themselves to develop the Alberta Oil Sands,against Alberta's wishes. But we all know the Lieberals saw Black Gold, with enough money made from Alberta's oil to partition millions and millions to all the have nots back east. One wonders if the have nots will pony up some of that dough they made for decades to clean up the environmental mess made by our liberal forefathers, or will everyone still wag fingers at Harper? How is that for an inconvenient truth!
Interesting historical revision Barry, but development of the oil sands were first proposed to and approved by Alberta (GCOS in '62 and Syncrude in '69). It was Alberta who, with cost issues of the Syncrude project and the oil crisis of 73, brought the feds in to buy into oil sands development. It was the meeting organized by Alberta in '75 when the feds took a 15% ownership stake, while Alberta took 10%. Most of the recent, massive development in the oils sands is rather far removed from Trudeau as well, and has been a function of the high oil prices following the Iraq war..
I'm not going to say that the NEP was good legislation, or didn't unfairly impact Alberta for the five years that it ran, but you are now being absolutely silly (or dishonest) implying that it was Federal Liberals pushing oil sands development rather than Alberta oil companies.
If anything the NEP discouraged development of the oil sands - and your cutsie partisan name calling can't change that.
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