NUCLEAR GENOCIDE IN CANADA Part 3 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) 'Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the federal crown corporation that promotes nuclear power, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year (2002). In those fifty years of touting the CANDU nuclear reactor, AECL has soaked up $17.5-billion in federal government subsidies or an average of $350,000,000 per year. Over the same period of time the average annual federal support for all renewable energy sources has been less than $13-million. Imagine for a moment the leadership role Canada could provide, if the same subsidies allocated to the nuclear industry, were directed to renewable energy sources like wind, solar and hydrogen.' (Joe Comartin, NDP, May 12, 2003)  AECL has been a parasite on the Canadian taxpayer since it was created in 1952. AECL has received 27 times the amount of subsidies as all the renewable energy sources put together. Despite not selling a reactor in more than a decade, AECL received $750 million from Canadian taxpayers in the last two calendar years alone. How long would your company stay in business with this kind of track record?  What Happened to AECL? Many world class scientists worked for AECL at Chalk River from its founding until the early 1960s. Many of them came from Europe during World War 2 to escape Hitler. They originally started working together with American scientists to develop the first atomic bombs and other experimental reactors. They were world leaders in many areas. Unfortunately this level of excellence has virtually disappeared as evidenced by the 2008 cancellation of the Maple reactor project and the ACR-700 reactor a couple of years earlier.  Frank Greening was a scientist employed by Ontario Power Generation for 23 years who worked on CANDU reactors. Mr. Greening comments on the cancellation of the Maples reactors: "Back in the halcyon days of the development of nuclear power in the period 1945 to 1965, AECL's research and development facility at Chalk River was universally recognized as a world leader in nuclear engineering, rivaled only by the UKAEA's Harwell Laboratory, and the US nuclear research facility at Oak Ridge. So how could the estimable AECL 'forget' how to design and build something it was quite capable of doing, and doing very well, just 50 years ago?" Dr. Gordon Edwards weighs in on the same issue: "The important point is that the brilliant men who designed the NRX and the NRU reactors are no longer to be found at Chalk River. The Europeans have gone home a long time ago. Many of the old-timers have died or retired or gone into other fields. Nuclear power no longer attracts the brightest science students as it once did. In fact AECL has not designed a successful new reactor for over 40 years. That lack of experience, coupled with a certain arrogant form of incompetence, has led to the debacle with the MAPLE reactors." (May 17, 2008, Gordon Edwards) AECL's legacy of reactor building in Ontario is not one to be proud of. Every reactor they built in Canada was over budget culminating with the Darlington reactors which cost 350% of the original estimate. In addition to the massive cost overruns, the CANDU reactors only lasted half as long as AECL claimed. All of the original reactors had to undergo massive refurbishments after less than 20 years in some cases. The cost of the refurbishments have been greater than the original cost to build the reactors. AECL's incompetence has saddled Canadian taxpayers with a massive debt, the full extent of which will become apparent in a following paper. AECL's mandate also includes responsibility for the nuclear waste created by the nuclear fuel cycle in Canada. Their track record in this regard is as bad as it is with the reactors. Deline, Port Hope, Serpent River, Chalk River, Whiteshell Nuclear Laboratory and hundreds of millions of tonnes of radioactive mine tailings are the responsibility of Canadian taxpayers and will cost billions of dollars to clean up. Caught Paying Bribes There are many instances of AECL not acting in a moral, ethical or legal manner over the years, both in Canada and abroad. AECL paid out over $22 million in bribes to sell reactors in South Korea and Argentina. An AECL agent was jailed in 1994 for paying a bribe to the head of the South Korean nuclear utility. In total, AECL paid out about $60 million for bribes and dubious 'agent fees'.  The price that AECL charged for the reactors they sold internationally in the 1990s was greatly discounted from the actual cost of building them. In addition, much of the financing was supplied by the Canadian government at subsidized interest rates. McLean's summarized the situation best: "If we have to loan people money at subsidized interest rates to buy CANDU at prices below cost and then bribe them to do it, how great is the accomplishment?" (McLean's Magazine)  Heavy Water Plants The first 'heavy water' plant was built in Trail BC in 1943 with a capacity of 6 tonnes per year. The design of subsequent CANDU reactors required large quantities of heavy water for coolant and moderator. AECL ordered heavy water plants at Glace Bay and Port Hawkesbury Nova Scotia at a cost of $806 million. Neither plant operated properly, so AECL built another plant at the Bruce Power complex in Ontario and ordered another one in Becancour Quebec. The two plants in Nova Scotia were shut down in 1985 with the costs being paid by Canadian taxpayers. The La Prade plant in Quebec, built at a cost of $400 million, was shut down without ever operating. AECL did not need the heavy water as no one wanted to buy CANDU reactors. These three plants, ordered by AECL, were never needed and in total were a waste of $1.2 billion. The Bruce Power Heavy Water plant was shut down in 1997. There were many complaints from people living around the facility because hydrogen sulphide was released on a daily basis. Missing Reactor Part "Staff working for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. lost a metal part they removed from a reactor at the Bruce nuclear power station in April, and didn't tell anyone until an employee from the station found it in June when it triggered the alarm on his radiation monitor. The part was so radioactive that a worker holding the part could have received the entire yearly dose limit in a few minutes. Despite the high level of radiation involved, AECL is not required by law to report the lost part to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission." (Martin Mittelstaedt, The Globe And Mail Saturday, July 26, 2008) Atomic Energy of Canada Limited did not inform Bruce Power or the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission that the part had been lost. It is quite telling to hear the comments on the matter from different people involved with it. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was not impressed that the loss of the radioactive part was kept secret. They wanted a full report from Bruce Power on how the loss occurred and why it was kept quiet. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited admitted they were wrong in not reporting the incident and expressed remorse. Frank Greening, a nuclear scientist and consultant with more than three decades of industry experience, equated the incident to a doctor leaving a scalpel inside a patient, knowing about it, but taking two months before saying anything about it. "They seem to have a habit of not reporting stuff, then they have to talk their way out of it when it finally is reported," Greening said. "There's a bit of a pattern here of sloppy bookkeeping and reporting." (Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star) This is not an isolated incident, but rather the way that Atomic Energy of Canada Limited conducts its affairs. There are numerous examples where they have not reported significant issues to the regulator and the public. There are other instances where they have lied to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission on regulatory issues which could pose harm to people and the environment. It is telling to note that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and independent scientists all admit this was a serious breach of regulatory protocol while the head of Bruce Power tried to play it down. According to Tyler Hamilton of the Toronto Star: "Duncan Hawthorne, chief executive officer of Bruce Power, dismissed the seriousness of the incident when contacted by the Star." "It's not a story," he said. "It's a bull---- story. There is no issue." The question is: How many other incidents go unreported at Bruce Power because Duncan Hawthorne considers them bulls**t? We have many examples of occurrences at the Pickering reactors, Cameco's operations, Bruce Power and at Chalk River that were not reported to the regulators or the public in a timely manner, if at all. Considering the number of events we find out about after the fact, how many remain hidden from the regulator and the public? Falsified Data We are increasingly finding out about dangerous situations and the lack of regulatory oversight from people within the nuclear industry who are concerned for the health of people and the environment. The following account is an example of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited trying to deceive the nuclear regulators. Though we have come to expect this behaviour from them, it is discouraging to hear that someone in a university is conspiring with them in this deception. The following account by Dr. Frank Greening is very disturbing. "I worked for 23 years as a research scientist for the large nuclear electric utility OPG and became involved in the study of hydrogen embrittlement of zirconium pressure tubes. This was a major problem and concern for AECL, the designer of the CANDU reactor. AECL needed to explain to our nuclear regulator why so much hydrogen was entering the pressure tubes in the 500 MW Units at Pickering. AECL proposed a THEORY that made no sense to me. I spent 5 years studying real samples of highly radioactive tubing and found lots of evidence that AECL's theory was plain WRONG! I presented my results at a number of meetings and was essentially shouted down. I did more research and found to my horror that one of my colleagues was cooking up data at a well-known Canadian University to support the dubious AECL theory. I approached a post-doc at the University who I could trust and together we checked the computer code being used to generate the data and found the steps in the program where the 'fudging' was being covertly carried out. I tried to expose this deception and was blocked at every turn. I was barred from speaking to or corresponding with zirconium experts at ASTM who had published the fudged data. I was barred from submitting an article, correcting the fudged data, to a journal. I was threatened with a lawsuit by a professor even though I had a letter from the same professor admitting that data had been falsified. After battling 'the system' for 5 years I took early retirement out of frustration and disgust with the state of science in industry and academia here in Canada." (Dr. Frank Greening) How many other times has this scenario played itself out where the employee said nothing? Most people don't have the courage to come forward.  Pinawa Dave Taylor, a member of Concerned Citizens of Manitoba, gave the Seaborne Inquiry a sense of contamination of the enviromnment at Whiteshell Nuclear Laboratories in Pinawa Manitoba caused by AECL. As a result of correspondence he received from AECL, Mr. Taylor told the Inquiry that AECL had buried 2500 containers of radioactive waste in unlined earth trenches between 1965 and the late 1970s in their waste management areas. The disconcerting part of his presentation was AECLs admission that they didn't know whether it was safer to leave the containers there or remove them. How can the public feel any confidence in nuclear energy if the federal corporation responsible for nuclear reactors and the waste they create does not know the preferred method of dealing with radioactive waste. Recent Reactor Leaks – On January 27, 2009, AECL reported a leak of tritiated water that occurred on December 5, 2008. When the leak first    occurred, AECL reported to the CNSC and the Prime Minister's office that they had an 'unanticipated maintenance    issue'. They never explained the true severity of the accident to anyone. AECL admits they don‘t know what caused    the leak. The 800 litre leak released radioactive tritium into the air. – On January 27, 2009, AECL also reported an ongoing leak in a weld at the reactor that is leaking 7000 litres of    slightly radioactive water per day. Most of this water ends up in the Ottawa River. They plan on fixing the weld    once the reactor is shut down. Unfortunately, they have to keep producing isotopes because the other old isotope    reactor in Europe is shut down. The 52 year-old NRU reactor is working 'double-time' to produce 70% of the global    demand for medical isotopes. – On February 22, 2009, AECL officials reported that 11 kg of heavy water was ventilated from the NRU reactor after    two tiny pin holes were found in a pipe Sunday morning. As usual, Michael Binder, the CEO of the CNSC stated:    "There was never any danger to the public or the environment." However, Dr. Gordon Edwards strongly disagrees with the CNSC's assessment of the situation. Dr. Edwards states: "What is described as a 'small' leak of heavy water is actually a rather large discharge of radioactive tritium, into the environment. The heavy water steam that escaped into the atmosphere on December 5, 2008, included about four-and-a-half trillion becquerels of tritium. The steam that was 'ventilated' on February 22 included about 11 trillion becquerels of tritium. Meanwhile, about 28 trillion becquerels of tritium in liquid form is being slowly released into the Ottawa River, the source of drinking water for millions of people.  Yet the regulatory agency says this is of 'no concern' and that there is 'no risk' to the health and safety of Canadians or the environment. Such a statement is scientifically indefensible. There is no safe threshold level for any carcinogenic substance, and the number of cancers caused by such exposures is directly proportional to the number of people so exposed. When they (CNSC) say that their policy is to keep all exposures to radiation 'as low as reasonably achievable', they obviously don't take that policy very seriously." (Gordon Edwards, February 24, 2009) Medical Isotopes AECL applied to the CNSC in 2005 to extend the license to operate the 48 year-old NRU reactor to produce medical isotopes because of their inability to complete the Maple reactors. The CNSC attached seven conditions to their license including the requirement for the installation of a back-up power source to the coolant pumps. During a scheduled maintenance shutdown of the NRU reactor in November 2007, the CNSC became aware that AECL had never installed the power source. CNSC president Linda Keen issued an order preventing the restart of the reactor until the parts were installed. This shutdown would take up to a month as AECL did not have the required equipment in Canada. In December 2007, the global supply of medical isotopes was disrupted when the CNSC forced AECL to keep the NRU reactor shut down until upgrades stipulated in their operating license were installed. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn over-reated and fired CNSC president Linda Keen and Prime Minister Harper ordered the immediate restart of the NRU reactor. The entire episode reminded you of a routine by the 'Keystone Kops'. The government tried to downplay the significance of the event but CNSC president Linda Keen set the record straight when she told Parliament: "The commission had serious concerns regarding the safety of this 50-year-old nuclear reactor when its licence was ready to expire. When the commission considered the licence renewal application in the spring of 2006, it seriously questioned the safety of this NRU. Its decision, effective August 1, 2006, to grant this new licence was based on specific assurances by AECL that its safety case was complete and that the seven key safety upgrades were completed. That assurance turned out to be false." A subsequent report by independent consultants into the matter stated that both AECL and the CNSC ignored standard operating procedures and that the communications between the two organizations were so bad that AECL did not make the required upgrades and the CNSC did not inspect to ensure that the work had been carried out. The report revealed that CNSC staffers were aware that AECL had not fixed the problem, yet they never told their superiors. Assistance to Weapons Programs As previously stated, Canada supplied the United States with uranium to build the first atomic bombs for the Manhattan Project. Canada continued to supply uranium for the United States nuclear weapons program into the 1970s courtesy of AECL. Virtually all production from all the Canadian uranium mines was used for this purpose. AECL sold/gave India a version of the NRX reactor called the CIRUS reactor. It started operations in 1960 and produced the plutonium India used to create their nuclear weapons program. Though Canada has never developed a nuclear bomb, it has been a key player in the development of the nuclear arsenal of several countries. Cameco in Port Hope continued to produce depleted uranium munitions into this decade for the American government at their facility in Port Hope. Cameco and Eldorado before them supplied the American nuclear weapons program with the raw materials they required to manufacture atomic and depleted uranium munitions. Exposure to Atomic Testing The January 2007 Report for Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor states that 689 Canadian Armed Forces personnel were exposed to atomic weapons tests by the United States and England. The report was commissioned as a response to a group of Veterans who are pressing for compensation for the radiation-induced illnesses they have suffered. No individuals who took part in the tests were contacted for the report.  The study by Ottawa-based nuclear weapons specialist John Clearwater does not attempt to determine how many of the veterans became ill as a result of their exposure. But it does note that the levels of protection the men used were at times questionable and some personnel were "exposed to radioactive contamination on the testing grounds where they had to live, sometimes for months at a time." (David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen, June 18, 2007 ) The following account of a Canadian soldier's experience is from a Sun Media article written by Bill Kaufman: "It (the atomic bomb) went off one kilometre away - the trenches caved in on us. There was stuff smoldering around us and some of the Americans had to be dug out." Mr. Kaufman continues: "Shortly after the explosion, the soldiers were packed into helicopters and flown over the bomb site - through the fringes of a maelstrom of radiation. There is little doubt that the Canadian Government sent these soldiers to the test site to be exposed to as much radiation as possible. None of the soldiers were told why they were being sent to Nevada." The Canadian Government never followed up on the health effects to the soldiers. Our Veterans are still fighting Ottawa for compensation for risking their lives and their health. After 51 years, the Canadian Government is stalling the compensation in the hope that most of the veterans will be dead soon. By comparison, the U.S. government has a program that awards a $76,000 payment to nuclear veterans who have had cancer. Robert Henderson, who was part of a radiation monitoring team during five nuclear blasts, said the veterans are dying off as they wait in vain for compensation promised to them by the Harper government: "I think they're stalling because out of the 1,000 or so people involved there's only about 100 or so living," said the 76-year-old from High River, Alta. "We thought this government was going to do something, but it's getting worse rather than better." "Jim Huntley, another of the atomic veterans, said lawyers for the Justice and Defence departments will likely spend more money fighting the old soldiers in court than the government would have to pay out in compensation." (David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2008) The Canadian government knew the dangers these soldiers would face from exposure to radiation near the bomb blasts, yet they never warned them in any way. Further, the Canadian government has never carried out any type of health testing on any of the people who were affected. It is beyond belief that our government could treat its citizens in such a cavalier and irresponsible manner. Summary There are many other examples throughout the papers you will receive of AECLs incompetence and outright corruption. They have saddled Canadian taxpayers with massive future debts as well as the potential for catastrophic debts from a severe nuclear accident. AECL has prevented Canadians from knowing the full scope of the costs by preventing Canadians from accessing the requisite documents. AECL will not release documentation and files on people's homes in Port Hope and other communities which are built on radioactive waste. There is no reason to keep these documents secret. They have no impact on national security. The only impact they will have is to prove that AECL has been remiss in protecting Canadians.  AECL continues to promote itself as a world leader in the nuclear movement but the rest of the world does not seem to agree with it. They are unable to sell the flawed reactors they build and they are unable to design the reactors they contract to build. They were one of the pre-eminent nuclear designers in the world at one time but they have been reduced to a very expensive side-show.  The final word in this section on AECL goes to former Ontario Power Generation (OPG) scientist Frank Greening who states: "Having worked for OPG from 1978 to 2000 I can attest to Ron Osborne's (OPG President) identification of poor management as the root cause of the declining performance of OPG's nuclear divison during the late 1990s. I have also had direct experience with AECL management at Chalk River and I can confirm that it is both arrogant and incompetent - a deadly mixture indeed!" End of Part 3