AECL sale to SNC-Lavalin near

Ottawa is close to a sale of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to SNC-Lavalin Group of Montreal, ending a federal withdrawal from the nuclear energy business that has been in the works since 2009. The anticipated sale would include the Candu reactor business but not the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor unit that makes medical isotopes and does research. An announcement could come as early as this week, although final details are still being worked out. Peter White, the head of the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates union that represents AECL workers, said he has not received word of any deal, but did say that management have...

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'Magical' as Lennox collects OBE

Musician Annie Lennox has described being awarded with the OBE by the Queen as "magical". The former Eurythmics singer was honoured for her work fighting Aids and poverty in Africa in an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.Lennox, 56, said: "It's quite magical. It's really meaningful to me that it's for charity work."Campaigning has been taking up a great deal of my commitment for quite a few years, and what it means is that there's a significance to what I'm doing - I'm not just working in a void. To get this acknowledgement means people are listening."She met the...

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PacifiCorp's reliance on coal plants brings utility to expensive juncture

View full sizeTim Kupsick / Casper Star-TribunePacifiCorp's largest-capacity coal plant, the Jim Bridger Plant near Rock Springs, Wyo.When it comes to power plant pollution, the spotlight in Oregon has been fixed on Portland General Electric and its plan to shut the Boardman coal plant by 2020 rather than invest $500 million to keep it running under stricter air-quality mandates. But when it comes to coal, PacifiCorp is king. That dependence is driving Oregon's second largest utility to a very different strategy when it comes to impending regulations: to stay the course with coal, despite the...

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* Business * Economic growth (GDP) Poor GDP figures add to pressure on Osborne

Construction industry income fell 3.4% during the first three months of 2011. Photograph: Roger Bamber/Alamy The Office for National Statistics has maintained that a dramatic fall in construction activity restricted UK economic growth to 0.5% in the first quarter of the year.Construction industry income fell 3.4% during the first three months, a slight upward revision on initial estimates, offsetting a 0.9% rise in services, the ONS said.It confirms that the economy has remained flat for almost nine months after a drop in GDP of 0.5% in the final quarter of 2010 and zero growth in the...

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False profits no more, as corporate revenue set to surge

Sales for large caps will double this year, analysts say; 'things are getting better' Revenue will climb 10 percent in 2011, twice last year's rate, as personal income and corporate spending recover, according to data from analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Net margin estimates were unchanged the past two months after rising more than 50 percent since 2009. The measure of income divided by revenue increased to 13.4 percent in the first quarter from 8.2 percent in October 2009, Bloomberg data show.Companies that boosted profits by firing workers and closing factories in the first two years of the expansion...

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Rare display for Auckland Art Gallery re-opening

Supplied RESTORED: The newly refurbished areas of the historic Auckland Art Gallery were returned to the care of its staff today after three years with Hawkins Construction. #TB_window { display: block; } Relevant offers When the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki re-opens in 68 days, the new-look building will exhibit a rare collection of modern art gifted to the people of Auckland. The newly refurbished areas of the historic gallery were returned to the care of its staff today after three years with Hawkins Construction.  And when...

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