Investing.com – NexGen Energy Ltd. (TSX:NXE) shares soared after Canadian Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced that Canada will expedite the approval process for new nuclear projects.
NexGen has currently been waiting seven years to build the world's largest uranium mine in Saskatchewan.
All new major projects in Canada currently must undergo a review under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA). The government is currently set to revise the Act this spring after Canada’s supreme court ruled in 2023 that it infringed on provincial jurisdiction.
Wilkinson noted that any legislative revisions to the IAA will be limited in scope to addressing the concerns of the court.
"That being said, we do have some ideas as to how we can make the process more efficient and respond to the thoughts and aspirations of the provinces," Wilkinson told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday,
"It's a very long process," said NexGen CEO Leigh Curyer. "Government and industry working together to bring these projects online more expeditiously, that is absolutely key."
No nuclear project has been approved since the introduction of the IAA in 2019.
Although Canada is the world's second-largest uranium producer, Canada's most recent nuclear reactor came on line more than two decades ago.