The province of Ontario on Monday suspended a C$26bn ($22.4bn) plan to build what would have been North America’s first nuclear reactors in 30 years, citing cost overruns and uncertainty over the future of the government-owned nuclear agency that was in line to build them.

Ontario’s energy minister, George Smitherman, said on Monday that price was “a substantial challenge” in the bid from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) and that the federal government needs to clarify plans to sell AECL’s nuclear reactor wing.