Canadians, yesterday, were reminded of just how hasty the prime minister, and his party, can be. Atomic Energy Canada Ltd forfeited approval to operate a Chalk River nuclear reactor for its ongoing failure to complete safety-system repairs and upgrades ordered by the independent regulator. The production of essential medical materials resulted.
The prime minister and CPC have been in power for almost 2 years. This “crisis” arose on their watch and they cannot escape responsibility. So what do they do to attempt to shift the blame? They accuse the independent regulator of partisan bias merely because she, a career public servant appointed by the Public Service Commission of Canada, once worked under a Liberal Minister! Duh! her and most of the public service.
To prove her bias, the government gets contradictory opinions of the reactor safety from a retired official of the operator who has failed to meet the safety requirements and from another retired official of Ontario’s Pickering nuclear power facility. The latter facility, Ontarians know well, was shut down for years because its operators neglected essential maintenance until it was no longer safe to operate the reactor. The government put up two opinions much more obviously biased against essential maintenance and safety and then claimed the independent regulator is unfit because she worked for a Liberal.
It was a shameful attack. As shameful as the government’s rush to push through legislation that will allow AECL to operate the reactor for 120 days without complying with safety requirements, which the prime minister judges to be superfluous. The prime minister is satisfied that the risk of a nuclear melt-down or the release of radiation is acceptably low. I guess he has applied the knowledge gained studying economics to over-ride common sense – you don’t take chances with nuclear safety.
All Canadians better hope there is not an accident or catastrophe affecting Chalk River in the next three months. They might also hope that the prime minister learns to leave science to the professionals and politics to the people.
The prime minister and CPC have been in power for almost 2 years. This “crisis” arose on their watch and they cannot escape responsibility. So what do they do to attempt to shift the blame? They accuse the independent regulator of partisan bias merely because she, a career public servant appointed by the Public Service Commission of Canada, once worked under a Liberal Minister! Duh! her and most of the public service.
To prove her bias, the government gets contradictory opinions of the reactor safety from a retired official of the operator who has failed to meet the safety requirements and from another retired official of Ontario’s Pickering nuclear power facility. The latter facility, Ontarians know well, was shut down for years because its operators neglected essential maintenance until it was no longer safe to operate the reactor. The government put up two opinions much more obviously biased against essential maintenance and safety and then claimed the independent regulator is unfit because she worked for a Liberal.
It was a shameful attack. As shameful as the government’s rush to push through legislation that will allow AECL to operate the reactor for 120 days without complying with safety requirements, which the prime minister judges to be superfluous. The prime minister is satisfied that the risk of a nuclear melt-down or the release of radiation is acceptably low. I guess he has applied the knowledge gained studying economics to over-ride common sense – you don’t take chances with nuclear safety.
All Canadians better hope there is not an accident or catastrophe affecting Chalk River in the next three months. They might also hope that the prime minister learns to leave science to the professionals and politics to the people.
