For the past two months, our media and politicians have busied themselves by playing a nuclear version of the blame game over the turmoil at Chalk River. The game started as an attempt to clarify the safety of the reactor and guarantee the continued supply of medical isotopes. But such meaningful intentions have long since degenerated into a partisan political battle.
At the centre of this battle is Linda Keen, head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) who ordered the reactor shut down without warning and was subsequently fired. Admittedly, firing the nation’s chief safety regulator for the nuclear industry doesn’t make for good optics. But focusing on the government’s human resources practices won’t solve the problem.
All of these events are symptoms of a much bigger issue — the dysfunctional relationship between the operators of the reactor, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), and its regulators, the CNSC. It is this systemic problem that led to the shutdown at Chalk River and, if it isn’t solved soon, Canada will have no nuclear industry and no medical isotopes. The recent shutdown will seem trivial in comparison.
It all boils down to the CNSC’s procedures for licensing existing nuclear technology and pre-licensing designs and plans for future reactors.
Licensing is the core issue holding back bidding and construction of at least two new reactors in Ontario. The province is facing a huge energy shortage that could be alleviated by the reactors. But it takes 10 years to build a reactor, so construction needs to start soon.
The Dalton McGuinty government would love to hand over the project to AECL and its latest Candu technology. But it can’t. The plans for the latest generation of reactors have yet to be licensed — and without that licence, AECL can’t bid on the $60-billion project. That may force Ontario to buy inferior technology from some other country and could potentially put thousands of Ontarians out of work.
Why won’t the CNSC issue a licence? It’s nothing to do with the technology. Under Keen’s leadership, the CNSC stopped the pre-licensing of reactor designs. She claimed the CNSC lacked the money and staff to do the job, but when the government provided the money, she still refused to continue the practice.
Consequently, technology can’t be certified until the final stage of a project. And buyers aren’t about to spend years planning multibillion-dollar reactor projects using technology that isn’t licensed. The AECL is literally crippled by the process, and since it represents Canada’s majority investment in nuclear technology, the future of the entire industry is now at risk — because of the questionable decisions of one individual.
Last week, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall called for changes to the licensing process, saying the development of nuclear technology will take decades under current setup.
The bizarre holdout on licensing has already led to even more bizarre licensing tactics. It forced AECL to have its latest Candu technology licensed in Argentina — just so the agency could make a bid on a reactor project in Turkey.
This bureaucratic battle came to a head in November when the reactor was shut down for routine maintenance (as it is four days each month), which is overseen by the CNSC and done in accordance with an agreed-upon maintenance and upgrade schedule.
But for some reason Keen decided to put a stop on the reactor’s restart because of what she claimed was a huge safety issue.
As is now widely known, the problem related to a third backup power supply line to one water pump. In other words, some catastrophic event would have had to occur that would destroy the first power source and the backup power source. Even then, consequences of a “worst-case scenario” would be minimal. Since CNSC had known about the problem for almost two years and knew it was due to be repaired within weeks, it defies reason as to why Keen would order a panicked shutdown.
The Chalk River/Linda Keen problem runs deeper than recent events suggest, and could have implications that extend much further than it now appears. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but CNSC’s current refusal to license Canada’s technology is essentially shutting down the nuclear industry. All you have to do is read the papers to see how it has shattered both national and international confidence in our industry.
It’s time for Canada to decide if it’s in the nuclear power business or not. If we are, then we need to make systemic changes to ensure that AECL and the CNSC collaborate to strengthen the industry and its products. If we aren’t, then the current game of finger pointing is moot.
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