nuclear-news

Canadian govt carefully tweaks nuclear information

Nuclear safety HARPER BIZARRO (Canada) December 22, 2009 …On January 15, 2008 – in the dead of the night – Stephen Harper and Gary Lunn fired Canada’s world-respected nuclear regulator, Linda Keen.

They then appointed a career bureaucrat to head up the Nuclear Safety Commission. They wanted to silence the regulatory arm of Canada’s nuclear industry. They have succeeded, apparently.

On Monday, there was a tritium leak at the Darlington nuclear facility. There was no public mention of this spill until some 24 hours later when it appeared in a local story from Durham Region and in other sources, like the Toronto Sun and Toronto Star. It is also noteworthy that Northumberland Today reported earlier this afternoon that the town of Port Hope had been notified of the spill late Monday night…by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.OPG press releases through the CNW Group did not begin until almost 24 hours after the spill. Though there is a link to one announcement supposedly from yesterday on the CNSC web site, as well as one on the OPG web site. Apparently, that initial news release was issued at some time after 3:00 pm on Monday, but, since neither agency has a time stamp on the release it is difficult to know exactly when.
It would be good to know just what the requirements are for “public disclosure” of spills like this and just who is supposed to make them. It appears that the Ontario MOE made some attempt to notify local officials in a timely manner. But otherwise, in this case to date, the national regulator is merely a conduit for OPG press releases.

HarperBizarro: Nuclear safety…

December 23, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium