"It is estimated that there will be two applications with this design requiring outsourced technical expertise at an estimated cost of $29 million over five years," says a memo prepared by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Those applications would come from Areva of France and Westinghouse Electric of the U.S.
There are no light-water reactors in Canada – AECL makes Candu heavy-water reactors – so the commission never needed much expertise in the area, says another memo.
Commission spokesperson Aurèle Gervais said the $29 million would not be spent if no firm applies for a light-water reactor licence.