Atomic Energy of Canada $2.3 billion for clean-up?

[Canuck E Stan]

Surplus At Just 1.6 Billion Dollars

"-$2.3 billion for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., to clean up environment problems."

Did anybody pick up the bit in the surplus announcement about the $2.3 Billion going to AECL for clean-up? This seemed to come out of nowhere.Did we encounter a major problem at AECL? Why is this not newsworthy...$2.3Billion?

The only place I found anything about it was on Monte Solberg, M.P.

Official Opposition Finance Critic's Sept.21 blog.

http://www.montesolberg.com/blog.htm

"Amazing too how Ralph and the finance guys didn't hear about that little $2.3 billion liability at AECL. That's what they told the media today. As of budget time there was no problem at AECL. But just as it becomes apparent that the surplus would be much bigger than forecast a crazy coincidence happened. At that very time, all of a sudden, it became necessary to make what is probably the largest unbudgeted year end adjustment ever for a crown corporation. Wow, that is so weird.

Obviously that is not newsworthy and no questions should be asked about it. After all, if we've learned anything we have definitely learned that you can trust the Liberal government. They certainly wouldn't stoop to manipulating the numbers just so they had more cash available to throw around at election time."

[geoffrey]

Surplus At Just 1.6 Billion Dollars

"-$2.3 billion for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., to clean up environment problems."

Did anybody pick up the bit in the surplus announcement about the $2.3 Billion going to AECL for clean-up? This seemed to come out of nowhere.Did we encounter a major problem at AECL? Why is this not newsworthy...$2.3Billion?

The only place I found anything about it was on Monte Solberg, M.P.

Official Opposition Finance Critic's Sept.21 blog.

http://www.montesolberg.com/blog.htm

"Amazing too how Ralph and the finance guys didn't hear about that little $2.3 billion liability at AECL. That's what they told the media today. As of budget time there was no problem at AECL. But just as it becomes apparent that the surplus would be much bigger than forecast a crazy coincidence happened. At that very time, all of a sudden, it became necessary to make what is probably the largest unbudgeted year end adjustment ever for a crown corporation. Wow, that is so weird.

Obviously that is not newsworthy and no questions should be asked about it. After all, if we've learned anything we have definitely learned that you can trust the Liberal government. They certainly wouldn't stoop to manipulating the numbers just so they had more cash available to throw around at election time."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know much about ecological sciences, but I think I'm safe to assume that a 2.3 billion dollar clean up is more than a couple spilled garbage bags. Does anyone know what this 2.3B clean up is cleaning up? And considering it regards the AECL, it created a bit of a concern to me that there is a big, possibly radioactive, mess somewhere in Canada.

[mcqueen625]

I'm not quite sure what AECL's involvement is with Pt. Lepreau Nuclear Station in New Brunswick but I understand they have some involvement in a refit scheduled to cost in the vacinity of $1.2 Billion which was just approved by NB's government, and NB Pewer. Maybe some of this money can be accounted for in whatever involvement AECL has in this project. It would not surprise me if they aren't footing part of the bill for this project since the MP represently Saint John is none other than Paul Zed, son-in-law to one of the Irving brother's and husband to Judy Irving. The federal cabinet refused to get involved themselves in this project because they said it would set a precedent and they would wind up footing the bill for reactors in Ontario that are also at the end of their designed for lifespans of 25 years.

[August1991]

Very good find, Mr. Stan.

As well, Ottawa took a hit as Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a federally owned company, wrote off C$2.3 billion in environmental clean-up costs.

Reuters Wed 21 sept

I have seen nothing since.

----

There are several points here.

One, how did this charge suddenly come out of the blue? I know that government finances are more an art than a science but this surely is something else again. It has the appearance of a write-off announcement to shareholders (and the market) except - the government is not a corporation. This is all politics.

Two, why does the federal government pay for nuclear energy when, in fact, the only nuclear plants in Canada are in Ontario? (Point Lepreau and Gentilly are minor compared to Pickering.)

[kimmy]

...uh...

Atomic Energy of Canada?

$2.3 billion environmental clean-up?

Shouldn't our frickin' media be on this?

Isn't the budget surplus somewhat secondary to the issue of finding out what AEC spent $2.3 billion cleaning up? I mean, maybe it's just me, but I'd like to know "what" and "where" and "how much" before I hear another word about the shrinking surplus.

To put it another way, either the $2.3 billion was a legitimate expense, or it wasn't. Either way, it's a potentially gigantic news story, isn't it?

-k

[Canuck E Stan]

Kimmy,

I totally agree with you, and this is part of what's wrong with the media in Canada.

Remember in grade school when we were taught about reporting and the teacher told you, you had to ask the questions,Who what,where,why and how when doing reporting?

Where are the reporters asking these questions with this and many other stories the public wants answers to?

It seems that to many of the stories are covered by columnists but should be in actual fact be news stories.Is it because of the editors making decisions on the story and not running it?

The papers seem to bury their heads in the sand or wait til some other paper starts the story.The reporters should be on the ball and ask the relevant questions at the press conferences that the politicians have in these announcements.

You and I question these things,and I have in the past send letters and e-mails to newspapers about stories that fade into oblivion without getting any answers.

How do we get the answers to our questions?I guess that should be another thread.

[Guest eureka]

The federal government does not pay for nuclear energy. Ontario does for that produced in Ontario. AECL is a crown corporation that is :n the business of producing the generating facilities and selling them.

Why the surprose surprises me. The necessary cleanup problem has been known for years and there have been ongoing studies and negotiations for that time. Now, apparently, has come the time to follow through.

Jusr 30 mikes, or 48 kilometres, from where I live, there is a contamination problem that affects much of a town of about 12,000 people. Canacer has been rife there for many years and it is time for action. I don't know anyone other than those who sleep their lives away who is not aware of this situation.

[Canuck E Stan]

The federal government does not pay for nuclear energy. Ontario does for that produced in Ontario. AECL is a crown corporation that is :n the business of producing the generating facilities and selling them.

I believe most people are aware of the AECL and what is does.The question is why $2.3 million for clean-up to an agency that produces generating facilities and sells them?

Why the surprose surprises me. The necessary cleanup problem has been known for years and there have been ongoing studies and negotiations for that time.

Sorry,but I'm confused here,if they are in the business of producing generating facilities and selling them,why would a clean-up be necessary? If these "known"clean-up problems have been known for years, I and others here know nothing about them, could you please enlighten me.Studies?Negotiations? Again please enlighten me.

Jusr 30 mikes, or 48 kilometres, from where I live, there is a contamination problem that affects much of a town of about 12,000 people. Canacer has been rife there for many years and it is time for action. I don't know anyone other than those who sleep their lives away who is not aware of this situation.

Now, apparently, has come the time to follow through.

"time for Action" "time to follow through" So after years ,now is the time?

The only time for anything is to get the whole story on why a $2.3 billion clean-up for a crown corporation that produces generating facilities just appears as an expense for the government.

Two side questions would be:

Why is the AECL even in business if there is $2.3 billion necessary to clean-up whatever they are cleaning up?

And the second question is if this is a Ontario mess why isn't Ontario paying for this clean-up?

People may be sleeping their lives away,but it's what the Liberals are doing when they are sleeping that gives them nightmares.

[Pateris]

The federal government does not pay for nuclear energy. Ontario does for that produced in Ontario. AECL is a crown corporation that is :n the business of producing the generating facilities and selling them.

Actually - AECL IS paying for Pt. Lepreau upgrades - was part of the deal NB made with the Feds to keep it open. If they hadn't they'd be paying to clean up that site plus building new COAL-FIRED power plants to replace it. And the feds don't want that because it's not Kyoto-friendly

[Canuck E Stan]

Since Eureka hasn't answered "the everybody knows what it is" but us here on the forum about AECL's $2.3 Billion dollar clean-up question. Here's what I did find out about AECL.

Energy Probe

Only months after Canadian-made reactors were rejected in U.S. and Chinese markets, Canada's 60-year-old civilian nuclear industry has suffered a potentially mortal blow at home. Facing a $1.6-billion repair bill, the government of Ontario decided this month to mothball two 540-megawatt Canada Deuterium-Uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactors more than a decade before their projected retirement date.

The reactors to be mothballed are two of eight at the Pickering Nuclear Station in the Toronto area. Built in the 1970s, they've been idle since 1997 largely because of thinning in the hundreds of pipes carrying heavy water coolant from the reactor core. Two years ago, three other laid-up Ontario reactors were restarted after refurbishments costing billions of dollars, and their operators now say more repairs are not far off. Adams says that CANDU reactors of various vintages in Argentina, India, Pakistan, Romania, China, and Korea will require extensive repairs sooner than planned.

Just today in the news this story:

Canada Resumes Nuclear ties with India

Mr. Pettigrew also said Canada and India are exploring the possibility of direct sales of nuclear products by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

India's history of nuclear experimentation is closely intertwined with that of Canada. India detonated its first nuclear ”device” in an underground test in the 1970s using Canadian technology, an event that proved extremely embarrassing for Ottawa.

So what's going on with AECL? $2.3 Billion in clean-up costs.The reactors are falling apart before their time in Ontario and are needing billions to refurbish. Plus they are planning to sell this faulty stuff to India,who in the past used it for nuclear weapons.

Where's this all going?

[Argus]

So what's going on with AECL? $2.3 Billion in clean-up costs.The reactors are falling apart before their time in Ontario and are needing billions to refurbish. Plus they are planning to sell this faulty stuff to India,who in the past used it for nuclear weapons.

Where's this all going?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You mean where did it go. This is an old year budget item. Supposedly one of several which "came in at the last minute". So how do you get a last minute cleanup bill for over two billion dollars anyway? And was this money actually spent last year? I doubt it.

[apollo19]

I believe this has to do with a nuclear plant in New Brunswick. It reached the end of its lifespan, and they were presented two choices: a) reoutfit it at a large cost, or b ) clean it up and shut it down at a large cost

The Feds got involved with it if i remember correctly