The president of Canada's nuclear safety regulator said Tuesday he was surprised by public and media interest in what he described as minor, harmless leaks of water — including radioactive water — last December at the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL).
But Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) president Michael Binder told MPs the commission and AECL have re-evaluated their communications protocol in the wake of the leaks at the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor, and will establish a new proactive system of disclosure — even for events that pose no health risk, and may seem like routine variations on normal operating procedure.
“Given that we deemed the December leak at the NRU to be of low safety significance, we were caught by surprise at the level of interest that events generated,” Binder told MPs on the House of Commons Natural Resources Committee.
“I'm surprised that you're surprised,” said Nathan Cullen, a B.C. NDP MP. “I'm finding it hard to reconcile the history of this particular reactor over the last 18 months.”
Sure makes you miss Linda Keen, doesn't it?
I especially liked his 'drip, drip, drip' analogy yesterday. You know, I have a leaky faucet in my kitchen, and it would have to drip for a really long time to produce 47 kg of water. Even heavy water.