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The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is not independent

“In 2008, when the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety  Commission CNSC (Linda Keen) tried to bring Canadian nuclear safety regulations in line with international standards, the government fired her,……The independence of the Commission has been compromised with the appointment of a pro-nuclear industry president”

Who controls nuclear control agencies? Japan’s earthquake caused a nuclear crisis which could be repeated in other countries .. Al Jazeera Stephen Leahy 23 Mar 2011 “…..Canadian connectionThe reactor buildings at Fukushima held up well, but there clearly was a problem with the back-up power for the cooling systems, says John Luxat, professor and Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Safety Analysis at McMaster University, near Toronto.

Canada has a robust public safety regulator in the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Luxat said in an interview.The government appoints experts from the industry and other sectors to run the Commission and enforce safety standards. Any additional safety standards add considerably to the cost, acknowledged Luxat, who used to work in the Canadian nuclear industry.

“In 2008, when the president of the CNSC (Linda Keen) tried to bring Canadian nuclear safety regulations in line with international standards, the government fired her,” said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, a nuclear analyst at Greenpeace Canada.One of the changes proposed by Keen was to mandate back-up diesel generators to provide electricity in the event of power failure following an earthquake, Stensil said.

“The independence of the Commission has been compromised with the appointment of a pro-nuclear industry president,” he said.The CNSC and the nuclear industry refuse to release their safety studies for independent peer review, claiming it is too risky to make them public, says Stensil.”The industry is always overstating the safety and benefits and understating the costs and risks,” said Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, a local environmental NGO.”It’s impossible to get them to provide evidence to support their claims,” he said.Most of Canada’s nuclear reactors are in the Greater Toronto region, where nearly six million people live.Public hearings are being held next week for the construction of two more reactors. However, the decision to build has already been made at the political level, said Mattson.”We don’t actually need the additional energy. The only reason this is going forward is to support the industry,” he said.

Who controls nuclear control agencies? – Features – Al Jazeera English

March 24, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, secrets,lies and civil liberties