'Risk of insolvency' at parent company of N.B. nuclear developer

Jacques Poitras · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 17, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Saint John-based Moltex Energy Canada Inc. is hoping imaginable caller owners for its overseas genitor institution volition respire caller beingness into its improvement of tiny modular atomic reactor exertion successful the province.

But the institution acknowledges that currency travel problems astatine its U.K.-based genitor institution person slowed down those efforts.

There is "a hazard of insolvency" astatine the genitor company, Moltex Canada CEO Rory O'Sullivan acknowledged successful an interview. 

An head is present looking for buyers for the U.K. company's assets, which see Moltex Energy Canada.

"As a exertion improvement institution we request to astir continuously beryllium fundraising to support progressing method milestones," O'Sullivan told CBC News. "And, due to the fact that we request genitor institution authorization to rise caller capital, we person not got that authorization.

"That has slowed america down. And truthful that's wherefore we're looking guardant to caller owners arsenic soon arsenic possible."

The U.K. head overseeing the sale, Azets Holdings Ltd., said successful a connection that the holding institution had been incapable to get bulk shareholder consent for caller investments oregon a merchantability of assets.

That led directors to determine connected March 17 to enactment the institution nether Azets administration.

"The determination taken to spot the institution successful medication is successful nary mode a reflection connected the operations of, oregon proposition within, the subsidiary companies," the connection said.

Potential buyers for Moltex person until May 7 to taxable bids for the company's assets, and it should instrumentality 2 to 3 months for the merchantability to close.

WATCH | 'That has slowed america down': Moltex CEO connected imaginable sale: 

O'Sullivan said helium is "very confident" that Moltex Canada volition inactive beryllium operating aboriginal this year.

Nuclear powerfulness doesn't emit greenhouse gases, truthful it's a cardinal constituent of N.B. Power's strategy to trim emissions that lend to clime change.

Since 2017, Moltex Energy Canada is 1 of 2 companies that person been astatine enactment successful Saint John processing tiny modular atomic reactors. 

The institution received $5 cardinal from the New Brunswick authorities successful 2018 and astir $50 cardinal from the national authorities successful 2021. 

The different company, ARC Clean Energy, has besides tally into problems.

Goal was to beryllium acceptable by 2030

ARC had hoped its archetypal SMR would beryllium acceptable by 2030, the day for phasing retired the usage of ember astatine N.B. Power's Belledune generating station.

But past year, Bill Labbe,  the CEO who made that commitment, near the company, and inferior officials said that day was nary longer feasible.

ARC has made nary announcements astir its advancement since May 2024.

"We are unsure whether oregon not ARC volition beryllium acceptable astatine that constituent oregon not, but we'll proceed to enactment with ARC," N.B. Power CEO Lori Clark told the legislature's nationalist accounts committee successful February.

"They are looking for investors now. … We besides person to person a Plan B successful the lawsuit ARC isn't ready."

That could see buying tiny reactors from companies not operating successful New Brunswick.

Ontario Power Generation was precocious granted a licence by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to physique its archetypal SMR, a competing exemplary by GE-Hitachi, astatine its Darlington powerfulness station.

ARC spokesperson Sandra Donnelly said successful a connection Wednesday that it aims to implicit plan enactment by 2027 truthful it tin use to the committee for a licence to physique its archetypal reactor.

She said that would necessitate backing from backstage investors and governments.

O'Sullivan told a committee of MLAs successful 2023 that Moltex's atomic discarded recycling exertion would beryllium acceptable by 2030 but its reactor would not be.

He said Wednesday that the currency travel problems astatine Moltex's U.K. genitor institution person enactment the timeline "a mates of years down that."

But helium said the company's atomic discarded recycling exertion — which would reprocess discarded from the Point Lepreau atomic presumption — means there's a marketplace for its products adjacent if N.B. Power buys reactors from different supplier.

Utility spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser said successful an email connection that the U.K. merchantability process would person "no contiguous impacts" connected N.B. Power's method enactment of Moltex. 

She said determination was thing caller to study connected its buying astir for different imaginable reactors.

Some experts, including a erstwhile seat of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, person questioned Moltex's plan, arguing the anticipation of reprocessing discarded and reducing the outgo and risks of storing it is unproven. 

Moltex precocious announced what O'Sullivan calls "excellent waste-recycling results" that volition let it to merchantability its exertion to different imaginable buyers erstwhile it's ready.

The CEO said contempt a batch of national predetermination treatment astir processing accepted vigor specified arsenic lipid and state to trim Canada's dependence connected the U.S., he's not disquieted astir atomic vigor being sidelined.

"Nuclear is truly by acold the eventual solution for vigor information concerns," helium said.

"It's clean, it provides reliable energy and it's affordable. It's competitive. … I'm really much optimistic than ever astir [the] atomic relation due to the fact that it addresses the clime concerns and it addresses vigor information concerns."