The Canadian Nuclear Association

4 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 8 of jobs that will last around 10 years, creating a very healthy expertise and workforce nuclear ecosystem in Canada.” The refurbishment also drives innovation around refreshing the CANDU technology for better efficiency and increased throughput. “The industry is also making significant strides in nuclear medicine,” adds Gorman. “We supply medical isotopes like cobalt-60 and others in an industry that supports about 8,500 jobs across Canada. Other nuclear medicine areas include nuclear imaging and radiation therapy, which directly support the medical industry while creating thousands of jobs across the entire value chain.” Nuclear power is part of a broader power and energy generation industry that falls under the purview of federal and provincial governments. As such, it requires support from the federal government on policy and resource levels to continue growing. Gorman points out that the federal government recently affirmed its support in the 2021-2022 federal budget. “The federal government not only reaffirmed its commitment to funding the new SMR technologies but also has made significant investments in the entire nuclear ecosystem,” he says. “In the budget, we saw significant investments in our regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), to more efficiently complete review and the licensing of SMR technologies that are coming online before the end of the decade.” Another important highlight from the budget is that the government has opened additional clean energy funds to the nuclear energy sector, signaling a radical policy shift that now recognizes nuclear as part of Canada’s suite of clean energy technology sources. Gorman attests that these significant developments signal that the federal government fully supports nuclear as an essential part of a net THE CANADI AN NUCLEAR ASSOC I AT ION zero future. The Canadian Nuclear Association draws close to 100 members from the nuclear industry in Canada. It includes 32 associate members comprising universities, research institutes, and other energy associations. A board of governors oversees the association, comprised of senior executives from some member companies. At a staff level, Gorman leads a team of 20 full-time employees working out of the association’s headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario. According to the CNA, Small Modular Reactors