Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
3/6/2015
Canadian Nuclear Partners CEO Pierre Tremblay is departing the company, but Ontario Power Generation, CNP’s parent company, reaffirmed this week that it would remain in the bidding process for the Chalk River Government-owned, Contractor-operated contact. Tremblay had served 38 years with the company. “Yes, I can confirm that Pierre Tremblay has announced his retirement,” OPG spokesman Neal Kelly said. “It’s well deserved as he’s served the company for 38 years.” Kelly declined to say who would be replacing Tremblay as CNP CEO.
Speculation had emerged this week that OPG and its subsidiary CNP could drop off its team in the Chalk River procurement, with some observers suggesting that the Ontario government had asked the company to focus on upcoming reactor refurbishments instead. Both OPG and Ontario denied the government had asked OPG to drop out off the bidding process. “OPG continues to support the bid as discussions are ongoing,” Kelly said. “It would be inappropriate to comment on the ongoing process which is covered by a Non-Disclosure Agreement.” A spokesperson from Ontario’s Office for the Minister of Energy echoed OPG’s statement. “The Ontario government has not directed Ontario Power Generation (OPG) with respect to participation in the federal government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) process for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL),” spokesperson Jennifer Beaudry said. “OPG will make a decision as to how it will participate in the process based on an analysis of the risks and rewards of participating.”
CNP is part of the Northern Nuclear Laboratories Alliance (NNLA) bidding team, which is made up of: CNP; URS Canadian Operations Limited; and McMaster University. The Canadian government’s procurement for a contract to manage Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s nuclear laboratories, including the Chalk River Laboratories, the Whiteshell Laboratories, the three prototype reactor sites and the Laprade heavy water storage site under a Government-owned Contractor-operated (GoCo) model, just issued its Request for Proposal. Canada expects picking a winning team sometime this summer, with a contract finalization by the fall of this year.
