7 April 2008 -- Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd said it will defer having its ACR-1000 nuclear power reactor design as part of the UK's current design assessment program, saying it wanted to address "major nuclear new build opportunities in the Canadian utility market."

Areva's EPR, GE-Hitachi's ESBWR and Westinghouse's AP1000 nuclear power designs will go forward to the next stage of more detailed analysis by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) and the Environment Agency before likely gaining Generic Design Acceptance (GDA).

AECL president and chief executive Hugh MacDiarmid said in a release: "We feel very strongly that our best course of action to ensure the ACR-1000 is successful in the global market is to focus first and foremost on the opportunities in Canada." The company expects commitments for ACR-1000 units to be made by Canadian utilities by around 2011. Some 22 earlier-design AECL Candu reactors already exist in Canada while there are plans developing in Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick for at least seven ACR-1000s.