Maybe you didn’t catch it in the news this week but there was some talk about Canada joining a nuclear partnership. There was some discussion about what Canada’s involvement would be in regards to the handling of nuclear fuel and technology.
This is an important issue to Saskatchewan because we are the world’s number one producer of uranium.

The proposal involved would have several aspects. While some of these aspects would not concern Saskatchewan, one idea could have a significant impact on Saskatchewan.

The idea proposed is that the countries that produce nuclear fuel (uranium) also accept the fuel back when the nuclear reactors have used the fuel. While a lot of people might say, why would you want spent nuclear fuel? There are two reasons why Canada is interested in the proposal.

First, there is the basic fairness issue. We mined the uranium in the first place, it is from our province and we do have some responsibility as to how it is used.

Secondly, there is a lot of positive economic potential in used nuclear fuel. Once uranium has been used in a reactor it is still possible to use the spent uranium in reactors again. This would require reprocessing and upgrading of the spent uranium, and would thus provide the potential for new jobs (engineers, scientists, trades people etc.).

The idea of reprocessing nuclear fuel is not without its problems, but it does have the potential of boosting Saskatchewan’s economy by building a sustainable value added industry. The government has not decided what it will do on this issue. However, we are always looking for ideas to grow Saskatchewan.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament in Saskatoon-Humboldt. You can call my office in Saskatoon at 975-6133, or drop by to visit our two offices one in Saskatoon and the other in the Humboldt mall. I always appreciate your feedback.