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Government fires head of Nuclear Safety Commission
Updated Wed. Jan. 16 2008 9:25 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The Tories have fired the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Linda Keen, just hours before her scheduled appearance at a Commons committee probing the Chalk River isotope crisis.
A press released posted on the CNSC website late Tuesday said Keen "received a letter from the Privy Council Office indicating that the government adopted an Order in Council terminating her designation as President of the Commission, effective immediately."
The letter further indicates that she remains a full-time permanent member of the Commission. The statement also said Keen intends to still appear before the committee Wednesday.
Keen has been engaged in a very public dispute with Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn over the shutdown of the Chalk River nuclear reactor in Ontario late last year -- which prompted a shortage in the supply of medical isotopes.
In a press release posted late Tuesday on the Natural Resources Canada website, Lunn said "the government is not satisfied that she demonstrated the leadership expected."
What, they wanted her to "lead" by allowing the AECL to continue to operate the reactor without the required backups?
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"The extended shutdown of the reactor was threatening to cause a national and international health crisis. The President was aware of the importance of maintaining Canada's and the world's supply of medical isotopes," he said.
"However, given the growing crisis, she did not demonstrate the leadership expected of the President
What did they want her to do? What would constitute "leadership"? Lunn's saying absolutely nothing here, just throwing out loaded terms in a vague attempt to discredito Keen without actually making any hard statements. He's weaseling out.
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Quick Facts
Linda J. Keen is an Albertan. She received her B.Sc. (honours in chemistry) and M.Sc. (agriculture sciences) from the University of Alberta. After working as a chemist, she continued her career in three science-related fields: agriculture and agri-food, mining and currently, in the nuclear area.
--Canadian Nuclear Safety Commissionunder the existing legislative provisions of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act to put the Commission in a position to address the situation in a timely fashion."
Lunn is also set to appear before the natural resources committee on Wednesday. CTV's Robert Fife said there will be fireworks coming from both sides.
"She's a very strong woman and I think she'll come in with all barrels firing at the government -- accusing them of political interference," he said.
"Mr. Lunn will respond for the government this afternoon."
Assistant deputy industry minister Michael Binder has been appointed interim president of the CNSC.
Chalk River Timeline
The reactor stopped production for scheduled repairs on Nov. 18 and was expected to restart within five days.
But the CNSC -- responsible for setting licensing, health and safety rules for the country's nuclear facilities -- refused to allow the reactor to restart after finding it had been operating without a backup emergency power system for cooling pumps for 17 months.
And that's AECL's problem, not the CNSC's, and certainyl not Keen's. What's the message in all this? That operators of potentially dangerious facilities can go their merry way in complete contravention of safety requirements. That the regulators aren't allowed to do anything to make them comply. Why should the AECL clean up their act if Parliament is just going to overrule the CNSC and fire its cheif?
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In December, emergency legislation passed by Parliament side-stepped the CNSC's objections and allowed the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) to restart the reactor for 120 days in order to alleviate the isotope shortage.
In a letter dated Dec. 27, which was later leaked to the media and then posted on the CNSC website, Lunn threatened to fire Keen for her involvement in keeping the reactor closed.
Keen responded with a scathing letter, telling Lunn that "the allegations which have been made, coupled with your threat to have me removed as President, seriously undermine the independence of the CNSC."
Opposition leaders called last week for the resignation of Lunn, accusing him of improperly interfering with an arm's-length nuclear regulator by sending the Dec. 27 letter to Keen.
Meanwhile, an auditor general report released last week indicates Lunn may have known in September that the Chalk River reactor needed improvements to protect public safety -- months before it was shut down.
So Keen's being scapegoated because the government sat on its hands for almost three months.
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Auditor general Sheila Fraser said she presented a report on Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) to the corporation's board on Sept. 5, 2007.
The cover page of the audit says: "We would like to draw your attention to a significant deficiency related to the unresolved strategic challenges that the Corporation faces ... 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."
The report goes on to highlight "three strategic challenges" AECL faced, including "the replacement of aging facilities at Chalk River Laboratories (CRL)."
Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, the natural resources critic, had asked Fraser's office to audit AECL. He has suggested Lunn was slow to take action on the aging Chalk River reactor.
However, Fife said Wednesday that new questions were also being raised about how early the CNSC knew about the problem.
"There are indications this morning that AECL lawyers have filed briefs that indicate that the nuclear commission (CNSC) was aware in July that there was problems with the two pumps and that they only raised the alarm bells in November," said Fife.
What action was the CNSC supposed to take? Shut down the reactor in July instead of November? Do people need fewer tests in July than in November? How is the CNSC supposed to make the AECL comply with safety regulations when the Government / Parliament will just overrule them? Lunn and the government and all of Parliament have a lot of explaining to do.
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