Sure.
First of all, thank you very much for the opportunity to appear in front of the committee. I look forward to providing some input on Bill C-20 from the perspective of a supplier of equipment and services to the global nuclear industry.
What I'll do, in terms of the presentation, is just give you a very brief background to B&W Canada, followed by a summary of the key points as to why this bill is important.
First of all, at B&W Canada we've been in business since 1844. Our roots go well back in history. We've always been an active supplier to the power generation industry in Canada and worldwide.
Currently, we have facilities in Cambridge, a large manufacturing facility, where we do both nuclear and other components for the power generation industry. We also have a facility in Melville, Saskatchewan, as well as regional offices across Canada.
We employ about 1,000 people, and over half our business is related to nuclear. We provide highly engineered components to the CANDU systems, owned by utilities, both internationally and domestically, and we also provide services domestically and internationally as well.
We are the only nuclear fabricator that still remains in North America, all the rest having closed their shops as the decline in nuclear manufacturing took place through the seventies and eighties. As a matter of fact, I think B&W Canada is a good example of how a company has taken technology developed for the CANDU business and turned around and applied it to an international market for PWR reactors. Over the last 20 years, we've built approximately $1.5 billion worth of equipment and exported it to customers in the U.S. and across Europe.
We feel it's important to have an updated Nuclear Liability Act in Canada in order to allow, really, Canada to ratify the CSC. CSC is the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, and the CSC is an IAEA initiative that basically commits the international community to common standards for handling claims from a nuclear facility accident. So we feel that's very important.
There are five reasons why prompt CSC ratification is important to both Canada and B&W Canada. One, it gives Canada a credible voice on the international stage in nuclear power, in non-proliferation, and on the role of the IAEA. Without Canada being a signatory to that treaty, our credibility is diminished.
Two, it allows an active export industry to both grow and develop, and therefore that export business allows us to control the type of equipment and technology that we send outside our borders. With those restrictions on the use of technology, it does allow us to control, to some extent, how that technology is used. Also, that technology inherently makes other nuclear plants safer, an advantage of western technology.
We also believe the CSC will allow more exports to occur, and that will help Canada's balance of trade as well, which we feel is important.
We also see that a ratified CSC would also preserve Canada's nuclear infrastructure. What I mean by this is that considerable investment takes place to enhance our capabilities to be competitive in a global market, and a broader industry and market being served both in Canada and internationally allows us to make those investments. If we were to rely simply on the Canadian market, we would have difficulty making the types of investments required to grow a business.
And the last point I would make is that it brings new vendors and new technology to Canada. Many companies are prohibited from or feel constrained in doing business in Canada because of the lack of the CSC treaty. This would allow that technology to come into Canada, it would generate competition, it would generate innovation, and it would generate lower costs for Canadian utilities.
In summary, we feel that Bill C-20 should be passed in a form that is consistent with the CSC, and that after adoption of Bill C-20, the CSC treaty should be promptly ratified.
Thank you, and I'd be happy to answer any questions at the conclusion.