We’re glad to see the feds wrapping this up. It comes after a number of years of what I would consider to be foot-dragging,” Duguid said Tuesday, as news broke of a sale to SNC-Lavalin.

“Their delays have impacted our ability to move on this purchase sooner,” he said. “And their delays have created a great deal of instability in Ontario’s nuclear sector. Our hope is that that sector will now be stabilized.”

The Dalton McGuinty government wants to support nuclear jobs in Ontario and Canada and would favour homegrown technology when adding new reactors, although the impact on local ratepayers would also factor in any decision, Duguid said.

The minister said his opponents at Queen’s Park would jeopardize the tens of thousands of jobs in Ontario, suggesting the Tories would rush ahead possibly with foreign reactors while the NDP would just bring the nuclear program to a halt.

NDP Energy Critic Peter Tabuns said the AECL sale puts the McGuinty government’s nuclear plans in jeopardy.

Ontario placed its plan to build new Darlington reactors on hold two years ago in a bid to pressure the feds into coming up with a better price and assuming more of the risk.

“There was uncertainty about the cost of Ontario’s nuclear investment before,” Tabuns said. “With this sale, that uncertainty grows dramatically. So Ontario, if it goes ahead, is going to be taking on a much bigger financial risk.”

Tabuns said the NDP would not build any new reactors, and would put rebuilding plans to a full environmental assessment.

When asked about Ontario jobs in the nuclear industry, Tabuns noted many of those skills could transfer easily to the growing recyclable energy industry.

Tabuns notes Duguid has not ruled out going outside Canada for nuclear reactors if the price is not right.

“Is he going to put down the extra tens of billions for a technology the federal government’s abandoning?” Tabuns said.