The Martlet

Gary Lunn made a dangerous move when he fired Canada’s head of nuclear safety.

Many know that Lunn, a UVic grad and Conservative MP for Saanich-Gulf islands, is an ardent supporter of the expansion of controversial energy sources. He wants to see more coal, more oil and gas, and more nuclear power. As minister of Natural Resources, Lunn promotes Canada’s energy resources around the world.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, however, is not charged with promoting the expansion of nuclear power, even though it reports to parliament through Lunn’s ministry.

As a signatory to the international convention on nuclear safety, Canada is supposed to take “appropriate steps to ensure an effective separation between the functions of the regulatory body and those of any other body or organisation concerned with promotion or utilization of nuclear energy.”

By firing the head of the nuclear safety commission, Lunn has undermined its role as an independent, science-based regulator of the nuclear industry.

Lunn blames the fired president of the nuclear safety commission, Linda Keen, for nearly causing a shortage of medically important nuclear material. Keen rejects that and has welcomed public scrutiny of her job performance. The story centres on the safety of an old 1957 nuclear reactor in Ontario. The 50-year-old reactor was supposed to be replaced in 2005. Due to setbacks, the operator applied for a license to continue operating the reactor until 2012.

The nuclear safety commission noted that the design of the old nuclear reactor in question fell “below current standards and practices.”

The commission ultimately approved the license in the summer of 2006 as a result of “recently completed safety upgrades” to the nuclear reactor.

The design of the reactor required that coolant constantly be pumped into the reactor to keep it from overheating. An important upgrade was to connect two pumps to an emergency power supply, so that in the event of a power failure the coolant would still be pumped.

Over a year later, in Nov. 2007, commission inspectors discovered that the two pumps had not in fact been connected to the emergency power supply. The commission confirmed these facts with the operator, letting them know that it was a reportable license violation and requesting that they conduct an assessment to ensure the operation was safe.

On Nov. 16, the operator first concluded that the reactor was reasonably safe without the emergency power system, but on Nov. 22nd told the commission they were going to keep the reactor shut down in order to investigate the matter further.

On Dec. 7, the operator decided to request an amendment to the license for the reactor to run with just one of the two pumps attached to the emergency power supply. They told the commission they could provide the required safety analysis by Dec. 13, in time for an expedited license amendment hearing. According to the regulator, on Dec. 8 Lunn demanded that they convene a hearing and approve a license, without a completed safety analysis.

On Dec. 11, at 11am, a legally binding government directive was issued requiring the commission to take into account “the health of Canadians who, for medical purposes, depend on nuclear substances.” A few hours later, new legislation was rushed through the House of Commons and Senate approving the start-up of the reactor without a license.

Lunn subsequently told Keen he planned to recommend her dismissal for failing to approve, without a safety analysis, a license to operate the nuclear reactor.

He says Keen ignored the Dec. 11 directive, even though she only had a few hours to consider how the new directive would change the licensing process.

Canada’s nuclear regulators will now think twice before making decisions based on scientific and legal expertise. Instead, thanks to Lunn, they will pander to the ideologies of central government for fear of being fired.