January 28, 2009
Radioactive fallout Severity of leak at Chalk River never revealed
Canada’s nuclear agency misled the Prime Minister’s Office over the nature and extent of a radioactive spill at the troubled Chalk River in December, a senior government official said yesterday.
“We are as upset as anyone,” the official said. The official was responding to an exclusive Sun Media story yesterday, detailing the reactor leak Dec. 5 that released radioactive tritium into the air.
Atomic Energy of Canada officials running the 51-year-old reactor claim an additional 800 litres of radioactive water spilled during the incident was safely recovered and stored at the nuclear facility.
But those claims have been cast into doubt by inconsistencies in internal reports from the nuclear agency, and its own attempts to keep the spill a secret from the media, the public and apparently the highest echelons of the federal government.
After a brief shutdown, Atomic Energy has continued to operate the reactor even though officials there say they have not found the source of the leak, and it might reoccur.
In an unrelated mechanical failure, the same reactor has been leaking up to 7,000 litres of water a day for more than a month from a crack in a weld.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says the water spewing from the weld has “a very low level of radioactivity” and is not a safety concern.
The water is being dumped into the Ottawa River.
Atomic Energy is reluctant to shut down the reactor for repairs since it is providing 70% of the world’s supply of medical isotopes used to diagnose and treat cancer.
Lisa Raitt, the natural resources minister responsible for the leaky reactor, told Sun Media yesterday she has ordered a full report on the radioactive spill from the nuclear safety commission.
Raitt said she and her departmental officials received an “e-mail briefing” on the leak the day after it occurred.
“There are some aspects that came out today that we weren’t fully aware of,” the minister said yesterday.
“I’ve asked my officials at the (safety commission) to get to the bottom of it, and I’m looking forward to getting a full report.”
NDP MP Nathan Cullen said if the minister doesn’t get answers from Atomic Energy, he will try to haul officials from the federal agency before the Commons natural resources committee.
