Chalk River nuclear reactor, medical isotope facility

[margrace]

It is more like plain Canadian incompetency, as these problems should have been determined at a much earlier stage with the parts readily available and installed with little inconvenience.

Yep Canadian Conservative incompetency, in the Globe and Mail this moring the head of Chalk River appointed by Harper against the advise, appointed a political appointee, thought he didn't believe in this, who was a fund raiser for the Alliance party. The gentleman quit last week, seems like we need to look into this aye.

[margrace]

No takers on this one?

[ScottSA]

No, but Igatieff did manage to get Harper flying into a blind rage.

Really? Harper in a blind rage? What tipped you off? Did Harper scratch his left cheek? Clear his throat? I haven't seen Harper in a blind rage. What does it look like?

[August1991]

No takers on this one?

From the article:Jean-Pierre Soublière, who was the acting chair of AECL in late 2005, said in an interview Monday he was certain he was twice selected by the independent panel to become the permanent chairman of the board.

The first selection process was launched under the Liberal government of Paul Martin, but the nomination did not proceed because of the 2006 election. The incoming Harper government did not like the results of that process and launched a second one, which also recommended Mr. Soublière, an Ottawa consultant who was linked to the Liberal Party of Canada.

But the Tories refused to appoint Mr. Soublière. Instead, they nominated Michael Burns, a former executive vice-president at B.C. Gas and onetime fundraiser for the Canadian Alliance, a precursor to the Conservative Party.

...

In an interview, Mr. Soublière said it is his understanding he was selected to be the AECL chair, but that he did not get the offer. He confirmed he was involved with the Liberal Party and the onetime leadership race of his friend John Manley, while adding he also donated in the past to the Conservatives.

We only have Soublière's word for the assertion that he was chosen. And he's as much of a Liberal hack as Burns is a Conservative hack. (Neither are really hacks.) Burns was executive vp at BC Gas which, I suppose, makes him qualified.

I think Harper/Clement could have spun this differently. The problems at AECL and CNSC are much deeper than one CEO.

BTW, look at this crew:

Efforts to reach AECL board members Monday were unsuccessful: Quebec City lawyer Marcel Aubut and Calgary governance consultant Stella Thompson did not return calls; an assistant said outgoing Concordia University president Claude Lajeunesse could not be reached; Brookfield Asset Management chair Robert Harding was out of the country until the New Year, according to an assistant, and University of New Brunswick professor Barbara Trenholm, who is on leave, did not respond to an e-mail.

[August1991]

This problem is far more complex than one CEO appointed a year ago. This looks like a mess of RCMP proportions.

"It's unbelievable incompetence on the part of AECL that the condition of the Maples has been delayed for a decade. It boggles the mind that this has gone on for so long and been allowed to continue."

The Maple reactors were designed to replace the 50-year-old National Research Universal reactor at Chalk River. MDS Nordion - a processor and distributor of molybdenum-99, from which the technetium-99m used in nuclear imaging is produced - signed a deal in the 1990s with AECL to build and operate two new reactors for $140-million. But the partnership disintegrated, and the two companies reached an understanding in 2005 in which MDS handed the reactors to AECL in exchange for a 40-year deal to supply the company with isotope materials.

Maple 1 and 2 were supposed to start up in the late 1990s.

Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, said AECL's plans to start them up next year may be too optimistic. He doesn't know if they will ever be operational.

"They don't really understand what's going on. They really don't understand why they're behaving this way. This is never a good sign with nuclear reactors, because it's precisely when you don't quite understand that you're likely to have serious problems," Mr. Edwards said.

"The people who designed these reactors should be held to account, because they clearly have not done a proper job."

G & M

[jdobbin]

Really? Harper in a blind rage? What tipped you off? Did Harper scratch his left cheek? Clear his throat? I haven't seen Harper in a blind rage. What does it look like?

It looks purple. And then he stuffs a kitten in his mouth.

[jdobbin]

I think Harper/Clement could have spun this differently. The problems at AECL and CNSC are much deeper than one CEO.

Still, it doesn't help when the Feds ask the regulator to bend the rules.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...18?hub=Politics

Tory insiders cite the earlier order as proof that the government had tried to solve the problem through normal bureaucratic channels but was rebuffed by the commission.

"This was a confrontation between incompetence and intransigence,'' said one Conservative who asked not to be named. "The incompetence was on the AECL side and the intransigence was on the regulatory side.''

The Dec. 10 cabinet order was drafted in broad policy terms for legal reasons, but it was clearly aimed at getting the Chalk River reactor back into operation after it had been shut down because of concerns that it lacked a backup system for cooling pumps designed to prevent a core meltdown in the event of an accident.

The text of the cabinet order, made public only this week, directs the safety commission "in regulating nuclear substances to take into account the health of Canadians who for medical purposes depend on nuclear substances produced by nuclear reactors.''

The shutdown at Chalk River had cut off about half the world's supply of radioactive isotopes used in the diagnosis of cancer and heart ailments, provoking what the government viewed as a public health crisis.

The Tories tried at first to get opposition consent for an all-party motion in the House of Commons calling for a resumption of operations at Chalk River, but the Liberals balked at that approach.

Omar Alghabra, the party's critic on the issue, said Tuesday the Liberal position was that politicians couldn't intervene in a specific case on which an independent regulatory body had already ruled.

"Instead of working with AECL to accommodate the commission's requirements, they felt the way to do it was to pressure the regulator,'' said Alghabra.

"We felt that it was inappropriate . . .It would be like picking up the phone and calling the judge (in a court case).''

Alghabra acknowledged that it's permitted, under the federal Nuclear Safety and Control Act, for the government to issue broad policy directives without referring to specific cases.

But he maintained that, under the circumstances, it was still wrong for the Conservatives to put out the cabinet order they eventually devised.

"They chose to put the blame, wrongly, on the commission to cover for the failures of AECL and the government's mismanagement of this file.''

[jdobbin]

Former AECL head lashes out a Tories.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/071219/...isotope_fallout

ederal Health Minister Tony Clement tried Wednesday to limit the fallout from the medical isotope crisis, insisting that the Conservative government acted swiftly.

He made the comment amid fresh criticism - this time from the Tory-appointed ex-chairman of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

Michael Burns, who resigned before the isotope crisis became public, lashed out at the government's handling of his resignation as "a clumsy piece of political opportunism."

He suggested the government tried to make him the fall guy.

Clement defended the government, saying he and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn moved as quickly as possible after they learned that the 50-year-old Chalk River nuclear reactor had been shut down for safety violations.

The reactor produces most of the world's nuclear isotopes for medical treatment and its closure - after months of warnings from the country's nuclear safety agency - created a worldwide shortage.

Clement suggested someone other than he and Lunn were to blame for the crisis and he vowed to thoroughly investigate what happened.

"The prime minister was quite serious when he said we want to get to the bottom of this and we will get to the bottom of this.

"What Canadians want to know is: can someone who needs medical isotopes for cancer therapy, for heart therapy, can they get the medical isotopes."

Pretty outrageous that they are dumping all over their own guy.

Just another reason why the dropped in the polls today.

[jdobbin]

New AECL head not jumping for joy about being appointed.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/071219/.../aecl_new_chair

he new chair of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says she didn't exactly jump for joy when the federal government offered her the job.

"I had a lot of questions," Glenna Carr said in an interview Wednesday. "Every day I opened the newspaper and there was another story."

First came the reports that Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn had announced a review of AECL's future, coupled with a commitment to join the controversial U.S.-led Global Nuclear Energy Partnership to promote wider use of nuclear power.

Then came the tales of infighting between AECL and its regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission - capped by a political blame game between the governing Conservatives and the opposition Liberals over the shutdown of the aging Chalk River reactor that produces half the world supply of medical isotopes.

Carr, who spent nearly two decades as a senior bureaucrat in the Ontario government before founding a prosperous private consulting firm, admits the public furor gave her pause.

"I'm at the point in my life where I don't need to work," she said. "My husband and I have been travelling and enjoying our grandchildren."

She was travelling, in fact, when the government tried to contact her about taking over as head of AECL's board of directors. The phone message was waiting when she returned on Nov. 27 - two days before predecessor Michael Burns says he formally advised Ottawa he wanted out as chairman.

Burns has since accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government of "political opportunism" in waiting to announce his departure until last Friday - a move that made it appear he was being pushed out over the Chalk River shutdown.

She should probably watch her back as Harper is not above sticking the knife in.

[Topaz]

Did any of you see Clemens on TV explaining what happen? He was asked how are they going to avoid this from happening again and he said that they will have better communciation, returning communications sooner, BUT this didn't happen in this case!! So, it seem the Minister Lunn didn't get the memo or didn't respond to the memo until Dec 3rd and the memo was sent Nov18-20th. They didn't get the job done!!

[jdobbin]

Looks like the Tories are continuing to try and interfere with the Nuclear watchdog agency.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...08?hub=Politics

The head of the Nuclear Safety Commission is accusing Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn of improper interference with the agency.

And in a letter to Lunn, Linda Keen warns that she'll sue over any attempt by the minister to have her fired.

Keen issued a caustic reply Tuesday to a letter Lunn sent her late last month, in which he threatened her termination for refusing to follow a ministerial directive.

"Any objective assessment of the facts will reveal that the allegations contained in your letter are entirely without merit,'' Keen wrote in her eight-page reply, posted on the commission website.

Lunn's letter, and comments made by the minister during a Dec. 8 telephone conversation "are examples of improper interference with both the institutional independence of the CNSC and with the administration of justice,'' said Keen.

The federal Conservative government and the commission have been at odds since last fall, when the 50-year-old nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont., was closed for safety upgrades.

Keen maintains Atomic Energy Canada Limited, and not her agency, made the decision to extend the shutdown of the reactor to complete the upgrades.

Lunn and Prime Minister Stephen Harper publicly criticized Keen after she insisted the reactor remain closed until a backup safety system was installed. The shutdown cut off the bulk of the world's supply of medical isotopes, stalling critical diagnoses and treatments.

Lunn wrote to Keen in a letter dated Dec. 27, questioning her judgment and her abilities to continue as president of the agency. He told her he was considering recommending her dismissal to cabinet.

That letter will have a negative effect on other quasi-judicial agencies that are supposed to be at arm's-length from government, Keen predicted.

This is just another example of the Tories bullying. They've done it with the Canadian Wheat Board as well.

[Visionseeker]

Looks like the Tories are continuing to try and interfere with the Nuclear watchdog agency.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...08?hub=Politics

This is just another example of the Tories bullying. They've done it with the Canadian Wheat Board as well.

The Tories have no cause to fire her. Heads of independent, quasi-judicial agencies are appointed to specific terms, not at pleasure so as to explicitly shield them from political interference in their work. Either Lunn knows this and is abusing his authority or doesn't know this and is therefore unqualified to wield it.

It looks like Keen has no intention of taking this lying down. The Tories would be well advised to back-down on this before it gets worse for them.

Meanwhile, one might ask what steps are being taken to sort out the mess that is AECL? Maple 1 or 2 are years behind schedule with no sign of them coming online soon. Could it be that Keen is being targeted to weaken the CNSC so they won't compromise plans to privatize AECL?

Edited January 9, 2008 by Visionseeker

[blueblood]

Looks like the Tories are continuing to try and interfere with the Nuclear watchdog agency.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...08?hub=Politics

This is just another example of the Tories bullying. They've done it with the Canadian Wheat Board as well.

Yes but in the case of the CWB the bullying is proving to be quite effective, the CWB has done more in the last 10 months than in the last 10 years. Maybe this will get the AECL to do their job properly and not sit around and collect cheques

[jdobbin]

Yes but in the case of the CWB the bullying is proving to be quite effective, the CWB has done more in the last 10 months than in the last 10 years. Maybe this will get the AECL to do their job properly and not sit around and collect cheques

The objective is not to get the CWB to their job. The Tory objective it to end the Wheat Board. It cannot legally exists as a state trade enterprise unless it has a monopoly. Farmers seem to think they will have a choice between the market and the Board. They won't. The Board will be would folded up because it of WTO rules.

And it isn't AECL that the Tories are trying to bully with firing, it is the regulator. The regulator's job is not to rubber stamp government policies.

Edited January 9, 2008 by jdobbin

[jdobbin]

The Opposition calls for Lunn's resignation.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080109/...isotope_fallout

Critics of the Conservative government are calling for Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn to be fired over what they call his interference with an arm's-length nuclear regulator.

And they want the Harper government to release a previously unknown report by the auditor general on a special review of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

"He should be fired, very clearly," Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said of Lunn on Wednesday.

Lunn is locked in an unusually bitter and public battle with the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which is charged with ensuring that the country's nuclear facilities adhere to their operating licences.

Lunn is threatening to fire Linda Keen, the commission president, for her role in shutting down a 50-year-old research reactor that creates isotopes used in medical imaging.

Keen is fighting back, calling Lunn's interference ill-informed, unwarranted and precedent-setting.

The Green party agrees, and has issued a statement saying it is Lunn who must go, not the commission president.

Leader Elizabeth May says Lunn's threats against Keen "cross the line of appropriate political deference to an independent regulator" and weaken the credibility of nuclear safety in Canada.

The Liberals also released a letter Wednesday from auditor-general Sheila Fraser in response to the party's request that she launch a special examination of AECL. In the letter, dated Dec. 20, Fraser told Liberal natural resources critic Omar Alghabra that she had already conducted a review, and submitted the findings to the Crown agency in early September.

Edited January 9, 2008 by jdobbin

[Argus]

The Opposition calls for Lunn's resignation.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080109/...isotope_fallout

This sort of thing is why people have such contempt for Liberals. They're all about sleazy, dishonest, politcal weasel games.

What is the real problem with Chalk River? Well, that the replacement is 9 years overdue. Do you think the Liberals will, for one second, take any responsibility for that? Not a chance. AECL didn't do its job for years. Do you think the Liberals will, for one second, take any responsibility for that? Not a chance. Do you think they even care about Chalk River? Not a chance.

This is all about trying to score political points, and nothing more. Chalk River could disappear in a ball of nuclear flames and while everyone else was aghast at the disaster Liberals would be wondering how they could profit politically.

Lunn was acting in the public interest. And he should be fired for that? As for the director of the board, this arrogant and intransigent woman who first posted Lunn's letter on her company's internal web site, then posted a public 27 page rebuttal - she should be gone for that alone.

Political interference? What a joke. These boards are appointed through political patronage, so it's kind of ludicrous for them to get on their high horse about political interference in their work.

[jdobbin]

This sort of thing is why people have such contempt for Liberals. They're all about sleazy, dishonest, politcal weasel games.

This is all about trying to score political points, and nothing more. Chalk River could disappear in a ball of nuclear flames and while everyone else was aghast at the disaster Liberals would be wondering how they could profit politically.

Lunn was acting in the public interest. And he should be fired for that? As for the director of the board, this arrogant and intransigent woman who first posted Lunn's letter on her company's internal web site, then posted a public 27 page rebuttal - she should be gone for that alone.

Political interference? What a joke. These boards are appointed through political patronage, so it's kind of ludicrous for them to get on their high horse about political interference in their work.

It was Harper's personal appointee to the AECL who dropped the ball. Harper only has himself to blame for that. Lunn knew about this since September. He can't say he was surprised. The Auditor General is still wondering why the Feds are sitting on her report.

The regulator did her job and the Tories are acting like the bullies that they are.

Edited January 11, 2008 by jdobbin

[Visionseeker]

There are a number of things that need to come to light about this:

- despite what the media continues to report, AECL, not the CNSC, decided to keep the reactor shut-down by themselves. Never did the CNSC demand that they do so. AECL recognized that the missing pump was a breach of their licence and the principals there properly understood that reactivating under such conditions would be in contravention of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act section 48 c (failure to comply with licence conditions – meaning prison time for the guy who turns the thing back on).

- the CNSC tried to let AECL get the reactor started with only one pump by expediting a licence amendment, but the AECL failed to give the CNSC the needed safety case to do so.

The CNSC basically said either fix the problem to comply with your licence, or give us a proper application to amend that licence so you can keep running.

Further, in anticipation of longer term problems, the CNSC took steps to facilitate the importation of radioactive isotopes to alleviate shortages in supply resulting from any prolonged shut-down at the NRU.

Now that’s what I call flexibility.

But on the other front, we have a minister going ape. Either unwilling or incapable of understanding that the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (and not the CNSC) is why AECL won’t restart the reactor. He keeps insisting that the CNSC turn the thing back on. But the CNSC doesn’t have the switch to turn it on, only the AECL does. So the CNSC (on the weekend of 8-9 December) explains why the AECL won’t risk restarting the reactor because of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act says that to do so would be criminal under an act of Parliament and the minister runs away in frustration.

The government’s behaviour thereafter is quite telling. After the Justice Department lawyers working for the CNSC’s legal services spent the weekend explaining to the minister why the CNSC can only wait for the AECL to follow the rules, the Justice Department mysteriously pulls said lawyers citing a “real or perceived conflict of interest”.

Basically, Nicholson’s staff felt that it would be exceedingly difficult to make Keen a scapegoat in this affair if resources for the Justice Department were on staff to defend the Commission.

This issue goes beyond Lunn’s interference. It begs into question the involvement of the minister of health, justice and the PMO in a campaign to persecute an officer of a quasi-judicial entity for having done her job.

Lunn has not simply overstepped his authority, for this issue necessarily was driven by the PMO and also implicates the Minister of Health. In the words of Rafiki: “it is time”.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Visionseeker

[Keepitsimple]

Deleted

Edited January 11, 2008 by Keepitsimple

[Keepitsimple]

Interesting article by Greg Weston in today's Toronto Sun. Weston is certainly not a Conservative booster. Deep problems at AECL and the Nuclear Watchdog have been arond for a long, long time. Weston tells of a Sheila Fraser audit report bombshell that was buried by the Liberals in 2002 accompanied by repeated refusals to meet with her to disuss the problems. So this whole episode is nothing more than a government finally starting to come to grips with a festering problem. Here's the beginning of the article:

Link: http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/...pf-4767089.html

Isotope dopes

By GREG WESTON

Liberal leader Stephane Dion went thermonuclear for the cameras this week, accusing the Conservative government of hiding a damning auditor general's report on the federally owned atomic energy company.

Seems the report made public this week has been around since last September.

Turns out that's about five years less than an even more alarming report on the same nuclear agency by the same federal watchdog, buried by the Liberals since 2002.

In fact, the Liberals never did release Auditor General Sheila Fraser's earlier bombshell. You are reading from it here first.

(Memo to Dion: There's nothing much that irks public servants more than politicians blowing self-righteous hypocrisy on serious issues such as nuclear safety.)

The Liberal leader is now demanding Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn be nuked from his job for not fixing what ails the government's nuclear power company, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).

But confidential government documents suggest Lunn's predecessor in the 2002 Liberal government was so disinterested that he kissed off repeated invitations from Fraser to discuss her truly dire discoveries.

In her latest report, Fraser warns of "significant deficiencies" at AECL, including at the antiquated Chalk River facility where a recent reactor shutdown cut off half the world's supply of radioactive isotopes used in medical scanners.

That said, aside from some bullying of the nuclear regulator, it is hardly a problem of the Conservatives' making as Dion would have Canadians believe.

Far from it. During their 13 years in office, the Liberals did a lot more to cause the mess at Atomic Energy, and a lot less to clean it up before they were turfed out of office in 2006.

As a result, in her 2002 review, the auditor general reported "serious and long-standing risks associated with AECL's older facilities," especially at Chalk River.

Fraser's report cites the confidential findings of an expert panel hired in 2001 to assess the medical isotope facility currently in the news.

EDIT

This was the opening post of a redundant thread entitled: AECL - Liberals Buried Fraser's Audit Reports on Nuclear Agency, Dion losing Credibility.

Edited January 11, 2008 by Charles Anthony
merged topic

[M.Dancer]

I wonder whether Chalk river will resonate with voters one way or another. It will be intersting though to see how it is spun. Can the Libs, Bloc or the NDP make hay from the CP and Harper acting and moving in the best interests of Canada and the world?

[Michael Bluth]

Very interesting. Yet again the Liberals prove they are the gang that can't shoot straight. Thankfully we have a competent Government to clean up the mess.

btw, the link was broken.

http://www.torsun.canoe.ca/Comment/2008/01...767233-sun.html

[Argus]

It was Harper's personal appointee to the AECL who dropped the ball.

Nothing but Liberal drool. The problems with ACEL go back years, and your party ignored them completely. And, as usual, you are acting as a party apologist, trying to blame all the incompetence your party invested in its term of office with those who replaced you after you were fired.

Why is the replacement not up and running? It's nine years overdue. You going to blame that on Harper, too?

[jdobbin]

Nothing but Liberal drool. The problems with ACEL go back years, and your party ignored them completely. And, as usual, you are acting as a party apologist, trying to blame all the incompetence your party invested in its term of office with those who replaced you after you were fired.

Why is the replacement not up and running? It's nine years overdue. You going to blame that on Harper, too?

Nope. The Liberals are responsible for AECL's problems during time they were in power. However, the Tories received an Auditor's report months ago and did not react. Their own appointee is out of the job after a short time. The Tory reaction, blame the regulator for the problem. I'm sorry. It doesn't wash.

[Keepitsimple]

Nope. The Liberals are responsible for AECL's problems during time they were in power. However, the Tories received an Auditor's report months ago and did not react. Their own appointee is out of the job after a short time. The Tory reaction, blame the regulator for the problem. I'm sorry. It doesn't wash.

Here's a bit more soap for you - hopefully it will wash better after you examine the facts. The Auditor's report was only submitted to the AECL Board in September, 2007. The covering letter, which is included below provides an excellent backdrop as to why Gary Lunn used what has been misconstrued as a heavy-handed approach. Collectively, the Nuclear watchdog and AECL had put not only Canadians, but people around the world - at risk with their bureaucratic negligence and incompetence. By government standards, it seems to me that Mr. Lunn acted pretty darn quickly - and appropriately. So lets not skirt the issue of the Liberals - with a majority government - "burying" previous Auditor's reports and refused to accept Sheila Fraser's invitations to discuss the AECL problems. Although that's water under the bridge, it serves as another example of the arrogance that had infested the Natural Governing Party.

28 August 2007

To the Board of Directors of

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited

We have completed the special examination of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in accordance with the

plan presented to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors on 16 November 2006. As required by

Section 139 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA), we are pleased to provide to you the attached final

special examination report.

We would like to draw your attention to a significant deficiency related to the unresolved strategic

challenges that the Corporation faces. More information can be found in the report.

Pursuant to Section 140 of the FAA, it is our view that this report contains information that should be

brought to the attention of the Minister of Natural Resources. Accordingly, following consultation with the

Board, we will be forwarding a copy of the report to the Minister.

We will be pleased to respond to any questions that you may have concerning our report at your meeting

on 5 September 2007.

I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the Board members, management, and

the Corporation’s staff for the excellent cooperation and assistance offered to us during the examination.

Yours sincerely,

Nancy Y. Cheng, FCA

Assistant Auditor General

Attach.

The entire report is here: http://www.aecl.ca/Assets/Publications/Rep...OAG-AECL-07.pdf

Edited January 12, 2008 by Keepitsimple