Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Chalk River redux

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, May 22, 2009 1:14pm - 20 Comments

Stephen Harper on Linda Keen, Dec. 11, 2007. “What we do know is the continuing actions of the Liberal appointed Nuclear Safety Commission will jeopardize the health and safety and lives of tens of thousands of Canadians. We do not have the authority to act as an executive, but we do have the responsibility to demand that Parliament step in and fix this situation before the health of more people is put in jeopardy.”

Gary Lunn on Linda Keen, Jan. 16, 2008. “In particular her lack of leadership during the extended shutdown of the NRU reactor at Chalk River, does not meet the very high standard of conduct the government and Canadians expect from public office holders who are responsible for the executive management of institutions charged with safeguarding the health and safety of all Canadians.”

Tony Clement on Linda Keen, Jan. 29, 2008. “I can tell you that I agree with the decision. I think it’s the right decision. I think it protects Canadians in the future. It’s not a decision you take lightly. You don’t fire heads of commissions every day of the week or every month in the year, but when it is for the health and safety of Canadians, you have to make those kinds of difficult decisions at times.”

So who gets fired now?

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  • Dot

    What took you so long? I was expecting you or Wells to write something along these lines for quite some time now.

    The two examples are not analagous. The recent event is a result of a leak somewhere that will take some time to detect and repair, if possible. There is no difference in opinion between AECL engineers, CNSC and external experts.

    The Keen event was completely different.

  • Wayne

    I agree with Dot – we have 2 completely different scenarios here and this time it’s an engineering problem not a Human Resources problem!

  • Glow-in-the-dark

    The issues are different… now the question is why has one of Canada’s other reactors not been set up as a back-up to NRU with the Maples being scrubbed.

    • Jenn

      Yes, it’s kind of a glaring question. When Chalk River went down last time and we realized the significance of it being out of service, surely someone thought there should be an AND to go along with the response of firing a scapegoat?

      And what was it, exactly, that Linda Keen was both so upset about and that was poo-pooed by the Government? A Leak of Heavy Water, if I recall from Katy’s committee liveblog. And why is Chalk River down now? A serious matter all knowledgeable government types will agree, taking at least the next month and a half to investigate? A Leak of Heavy Water. (Makes a great song title, don’t you think?)

      So why was the earlier leak nothing at all, while this one is a very serious matter that must be investigated and fixed? Are we sure it isn’t the same leak?

  • Harbles

    What a mess!

    Badmouthing Ms Keen for not being properly concerned with “health and safety of all Canadians” is the worst of political smear mongering. She was doing her job protecting the health and safety of Canadians by enforcing SAFETY regulations at a facility under her jurisdiction. The supply of medical isotopes was not her job nor should it be.
    The above quoted politicians have done more to shake the confidence of this Canadian in the safety of Nuclear energy in Canada than Ms Keen ever has. BTW I am pro nuc power but not if those bozo’s are calling the shots.
    AECL’s failure to get the Maple reactors to function safely is the nail in the coffin of Canada’s nuclear industry.

  • Dave Wells

    Dean Del Mastro!

    (eh- just wishing).

  • Ian

    TRIUMH (particle accelerator at UBC) is looking at how they could produce Mo-99 for MDS Nordion:

    http://www.triumf.ca/research-highlights/experimental-result/mds-nordion-and-triumf-announce-mo-99-collaboration

    Too bad they’re not further along. Interesting, though, that this was started before Chalk River went down (story is dated April 28th).

  • Ted

    You are right: they are different and they highlight the striking difference between moral leadership and partisan leadership.

    The issue is safety with very useful and needed but dangerous equipment.

    Such equipment is completely safe if you run it safely and in accordance with protocol established by the engineers who designed it.

    In this case, there was a mechanical or structural problem, so going by the book the protocol dictated shut down procedures.

    In Keen’s case, there was a mechanical problem – no back-up generators, so going by the book the protocol dictated shut down procedures. But then some politicians who wanted Keen out, painted her as a “Liberal” out to make them look bad and decided that they knew better than the engineers who designed the plant. Perhaps the dangers of not shutting down were overstated, but she had no choice but to follow the guidelines based on the reports she received from the engineers.

    And so they fired Keen for doing her job. That is the difference between the two scenarios: political interference for partisan gain, instead of moral leadership for the good of the nation.

    • Geoff Small

      You hit the nail on the head with that one.

      • Oh Boy

        Ditto.

    • Dot

      You know not of what you write.

    • Wayne

      you should go back at check your facts as it was a secondary backup and the issue was not the equipment but the inability of a human being to get along well with others and when offered an out did not take it.

  • Geiseric the Lame

    The question of the hour is who’d be on the carpet today if she HAD gone ahead and safetied the jalopy without a peep now that it’s back up on the blocks. Keen picked her poison and I don’t doubt for a moment she picked the cup did.

    • Geiseric the Lame

      don’t doubt she’s GLAD she picked the cup she did, that is.

      what I wouldn’t do for an edit button.

  • oompus boompus

    “So who gets fired now?”

    The public gets fired. For gross stupidity in letting their health care system be run as a government monopoly controlled by politicians and bureaucrats.

    “political interference for partisan gain”

    What did you expect – THEY’RE EFFING POLITICIANS.

    “instead of moral leadership for the good of the nation”

    YOU – must be your own moral leader. For the good of yourself and your family. Turning all your money over to someone else and expecting them to exert moral leadership is just plain dumb.

    Try throwing your wallet at some stranger you see on the street. Pick the most honest-looking person you can find. If you picked an honest person would he (a) hand you your wallet back, or (b) walk away counting your money, promising that in the future he’s going to give you a job, a car, a house, a retirement pension, a fully stocked hospital, and university scholarships for your kids.

  • AT

    Wayne,
    You’re right that the previously shutdown was related to lack of triple redundant generator (capable of operation after an extreme earthquake). It was not an operational or a safety issue, given that the reactor had been in running for decades. The installation was required as a result of a change in international regulations.

    One other notable issue that is often ignored: There was a unanimous vote in the HOC to reverse Keen’s decision to shut down the nuclear plant. If anyone out there can remember a previous occasion on which HOC reversed a the decision made by independent agency, please post it.

    • Glow-in-the-dark

      On the technical stuff, Wayne is right but Keen’s mandate called for her to make decisions solely on safety issues and not to even consider other (economic, health) issues. If you look at her actual statements early in the crisis, she was not opposed to being overruled by the HOC in this case (which explains the unanimous vote), but was unwilling to operate outside of her prescribed mandate. i.e. it might be ok to occasionally let safety issues slide (especially if they are part of a redundant process against an unlikely event) for the public good, but when that is the case the elected officials should make the call and take that responsibility.

      • Dot

        Parliament unanimously overruled Linda Keen solely due to the expert testimony of outside consultants, as well as the operators of Chalk River, engineers all, that the facility was safe to operate.

        Read Hansard here: http://tinyurl.com/q4meou

  • Harbles

    A good summary of the situation at Politics’n’Poetry. over a year old but not much has changed.

    Also more on the seismic implications of a post retirement leaking reactor in a moderate earthquake zone from a retired OPG geologist at Ontario-geofish.
    Search on AECL or CNSC or Chalk river or Nordion or leaky bathtub etc.

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