Canadian regulators are examining a plan to sell all of Canada’s nuclear fusion research to the government of Iran.
The Canadian Centre for Fusion Magnetics, based in MontrĂ©al, is negotiating with the Iranian government to sell the centre’s equipment and technology, because Canadian funding for the centre has dried up.
Over the last 10 years, the Canadian government and Hydro QuĂ©bec invested $200 million in the centre. The government pulled out of the project 2 years ago, and Hydro QuĂ©bec couldn’t continue with the annual cost of $20 million to operate the centre. Hydro QuĂ©bec put the facility up for sale last year. No Canadian interests came forward, so the facility was placed for sale on the international market.
Iran was interested. Details of the price have not been revealed.