EU and Canada will re-tool their nuclear agreement

The European Union (EU) and Canada are about to embark on detailed negotiations to upgrade their existing long-standing nuclear cooperation agreement. A key aim of the talks, European Commission and Canadian officials told World Nuclear News, was the authorisation of widespread nuclear technology transfers between the EU and Canada, which are currently tightly restricted. A Canadian government spokesperson told WNN: “Canada is interested in boosting the ability to exchange nuclear technology. When the Canada-EU agreement was concluded 50 years ago, it did not, and still does not, cover nuclear technology, only nuclear material and equipment. This is a handicap if a Canadian company wants to export nuclear technology to Europe.”
She stressed that without such a deal, which would include peaceful use assurances and detailed accounting procedures, “Canadian companies are unable to get export permits or export licences for these types of goods.” The spokesperson however would not comment on the specifics of any technical cooperation that could follow.
The EU and Canada were said to be equally anxious to incorporate existing bilateral agreements within the umbrella of a widened Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community)-Canada nuclear cooperation deal, to simplify cooperation work.
The Canadian spokesperson noted that these bilateral deals covered the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, noting that some of these agreements do actually cover nuclear technology, but not all. “It would be more efficient to be able to cover nuclear technology under an amended Canada-EU agreement thus obviating the need for any seperate bilateral agreements with EU member states and ensuring that Canadian companies could export nuclear technology to, or collaborate with, any EU member state,” she added.