New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir is worried that continued uncertainty surrounding the economy and the future of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. could threaten the development of a second nuclear reactor in the province.

Keir said in an interview Monday he's still hopeful there'll be a second nuclear power plant at Point Lepreau. But the energy minister is acknowledging the project's investors want to see stability at the federal Crown corporation that would build the reactor.

"These investors have sat down with AECL and talked to them about using their technology. And certainly that's causing me some concern, in terms of what the federal government's going to do with AECL and whether they're going to sell it or keep it and give it the required funds," Keir said.

Team Candu New Brunswick, a consortium of corporations including AECL, is studying the possibility of privately building an ACR-1000 reactor and selling that power directly to the U.S. market.

The federal government announced in May it is restructuring AECL and may sell a stake in its commercial reactor division.

Site licence delayed

Keir said the project's proponents still want to push forward with a site licence application with NB Power, which operates the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station west of Saint John, to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. However, that application was expected to be filed last year.

The Ontario government recently backed away from buying two AECL reactors because Ottawa is considering selling off parts of the corporation.

Last Friday, Irving Oil and BP backed out of a plan to build an $8-billion second oil refinery in Saint John. One of the explanations given by Irving Oil was the faltering global economy.

Keir said the companies putting together the nuclear plan believe the business case still works, but he said the economic slowdown is a significant hurdle that must be overcome.

"One [hurdle] is still the credit issue, on how quickly this recession is going to be over, and some of these investors can get access to credible capital opportunities," Keir said.