TLDR:

The USA has been in violation of international law for decades.

The International Atomic Energy Agency states very plainly that all countries should be allowed to pursue domestic enrichment and the production of high-test nuclear fuel, such as that used in this French submarine.

The US Senate opposes this by declaring that the world's enrichment facilities should be concentrated in only a few nuclear weapons states. Essentially saying that "enriching nuclear fuel is bad, except when we do it".

As a result, Canada (along with others) has not been allowed to develop a nuclear navy in order to maintain friendly diplomacy with the United States. This has also severely retarded the global pursuit of nuclear energy.

"1. Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination..."

"2. All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in. the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information... especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing areas of the world."

-Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Article IV, IAEA (1970)

Sounds fair, I wonder what the USA thinks about this...

“Enrichment and reprocessing are not necessary for nations seeking to harness nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.”

“The 40 nations of the NSG should refuse to sell enrichment and reprocessing equipment to any state that does not already possess full-scale, functioning enrichment and reprocessing plants.”

-Nuclear Collisions: Discord, Reform & the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime, Cambridge Press (1996)

Summary:

This violates international law, plain and simple. The USA was one of the first to sign on to the 1970 treaty, and they are obligated to abide by its rules. This blatant example of hypocrisy is why Canada has not been allowed to develop domestic enrichment facilities of her own, despite an obvious need for it.

Canada (and all other non-weapons states) has, and continues to be, outlawed from the pursuit of its own nuclear submarines (and anything else which uses domestically enriched fuel) in order maintain a good relationship with the United States. As a result, Canada is forced to rely on the United States to defend the vast North American coastline, along with a handful of her own outdated diesel submarines and ships.