SNC-Lavalin appoints U.S. nuclear exec to head Candu Energy

MONTREAL—SNC-Lavalin has appointed a former chief nuclear officer from a major power producer in the United States to head its Candu Energy unit based in Toronto.

Preston Swafford, who will be chief executive of Candu Energy Inc. and chief nuclear officer for SNC, will be responsible growing a business that refurbishes and builds nuclear-powered plants around the world.

Swafford was responsible for managing six nuclear operating units as chief nuclear officer at Tennessee Valley Authority until he left last year.

The nuclear engineer is certified as a senior reactor operator on U.S.-design light water reactors.

Swafford has served as chairman of the Nuclear Safety Review Board (NSRB) at the Bruce Power site in Ontario and has been a member of safety review board in Rochester, N.Y., and a recently formed international advisory board to the Japan Nuclear Safety Institute (JANSI).

Candu Energy has focused on refurbishment projects in Argentina and Ontario as it looks for opportunities for costly new builds.

SNC-Lavalin acquired the commercial operations of the federal government’s Atomic Energy of Canada in 2011 for $15-million plus future royalties.

Candu Energy’s 1,400 employees design, build and service nuclear reactors that supply nearly half of Ontario’s electricity and 16 per cent of Canada’s overall electricity requirements.

The company has operations in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Reactors designed by Candu supply more than 22,000 megawatts of power at sites around the world.