Ontario Legislature Investigate Nuclear Safety
Why Pickering Safety Systems Need to be Upgraded

Publisher:  Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, Montreal, Canada
Year Published:  1980
Pages:  32pp   Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX2115

Abstract: 
These technical summaries of the current issues surrounding the operational safety of Ontario nuclear reactors were written by one of the most knowledgeable persons inside or outside of the Canadian nuclear industry.

The document concerning Pickering is a letter written to Energy Probe in which Edwards summarizes his violation of why the Pickering plant is operating in violation of its license and what should be done to correct this situation. The letter is readable for anyone with a basic knowledge of the operation of CANDU reactors.

In the other document, Edwards responds to the recently published Select Committee of the Ontario Legislature's Interim Report, The Safety Of Ontario Nuclear Reactors. Edwards commends the Committee for a number of its recommendations concerning reactor licensing criteria, public access to information and the need for independent public bodies to review controversial issues such as the health hazards of the low level radiation. At the same time, he condemns the text of the report for "a number of inconsistencies, confusions, oversights and conundrums of a rather fundamental nature." In addition, he presents a convincing argument to support his contention that "the superficial tone of political expediency adopted in the Report does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the issue or the quality of his testimony (to the Select Committee) heard to date".

In contrast, Edwards' critique does all that and more. It takes you through a number of key issues surrounding reactor safety which have either been ignored or glossed over in the Select Committee's report.