Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), previously known as the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB), is the governmental nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

 and materials watchdog in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. In addition to nuclear power plants and nuclear research facilities, the CNSC regulates numerous other uses of nuclear material such as radioisotopes used in the treatment of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

, the operation of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 mines and refineries, and the use of radioactive sources for oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 exploration and in instruments such as precipitation measurement devices. The CNSC is an independent agency of the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 which reports to the Parliament of Canada
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

 through the Minister of Natural Resources.

The regulatory system is designed to protect people and the environment from human-made radiation resulting from the use of nuclear energy and materials at licensed sites. This is accomplished through a licensing process that requires the licensee to prove that their operations are safe. At the basis of the regulatory system is the principle that no technology is fail proof, so licensees must incorporate multiple layers of protection whenever radioactive materials are used.

The CNSC implements measures to ensure that Canada's international obligations are met with respect to activities related to nuclear and radioactive materials. This includes Canada's safeguards obligations pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The CNSC also licenses the import, export and transportation of nuclear materials and other prescribed substances, equipment, technology and dual-use items.

CNSC staff play an important role in protecting health, safety, security and the environment by monitoring and inspecting licensed activities. As part of that role, CNSC staff evaluate the performance of nuclear power plants. Staff also contribute to the development of international nuclear safety standards and nuclear non-proliferation fora.

Organizational structure

The central body within the CNSC is the Commission Tribunal, which has up to seven appointed permanent members, which establishes legally-binding regulations governing the use of nuclear materials pursuant to the Nuclear Safety and Control Act
Nuclear Safety and Control Act
The Nuclear Safety and Control Act of Canada replaced the Atomic Energy Control Act of 1946 with new, more effective and explicit legislation to regulate the activities of the Canadian nuclear industry. The NSCA also provided for the establishment of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission , which...

. One permanent member of the Commission is designated as the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's President and Chief Executive Officer. The Commission Tribunal is supported by a secretariat of more than 600 employees.

Dismissal of CNSC Chair Linda Keen

In November 2007, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited or AECL is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory...

 (AECL), acting upon the advice of the CNSC that it was in violation of its site operating licence for Chalk River Laboratories
Chalk River Laboratories
The Chalk River Laboratories is a Canadian nuclear research facility located near Chalk River, about north-west of Ottawa in the province of Ontario.CRL is a site of major research and development to support and advance nuclear technology, in particular CANDU reactor...

 (CRL), voluntarily chose to extend a routine shutdown of the NRU
National Research Universal Reactor
The National Research Universal reactor, located in Chalk River, Ontario, is one of Canada’s national science facilities. It is a multipurpose science facility that serves three main roles....

 nuclear reactor pending completion of safety upgrades. The issue involved two of NRU's eight coolant pumps which, upon completion of several safety upgrades, would be credited as being able to withstand severe external hazards such as a major earthquake. Before and after the awarding of CRL's October 2006 operating license fo CRL, AECL reported that these two pumps had not yet been connected to a seismically-qualifed backup power supply (separate from NRU's normal backup power supplies); however, in November 2007 this fact was recognized by the CNSC as evidence of a license violation, leading AECL to extend the NRU's maintenance shutdown until the seismically-qualified backup power connection could be completed. These two pumps which are connected to a backup power supply are the last line of defence in the event of an earthquake or other primary power system failure in order to prevent a Fukushima style meltdown of the reactor.

The extended shutdown created a shortage of medical radioisotopes of which Canada produces about 60 per cent of the world's supply. CNSC required that a safety case be made, as per its mandate, to modify AECL’s license in order to allow it to operate the NRU reactor with a single pump connected to seismically qualified backup power supplies, but AECL's submission was not accepted by the CNSC.

Parliament passed emergency legislation overriding the “independent” regulator CNSC on the issue of the two pumps at NRU, winning all-party support to order the reactor to be restarted, and NRU resumed operations on December 16, 2007.

Subsequently, federal Conservative Energy and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn
Gary Lunn
Gary Vincent Lunn, PC, MP is the former Canadian Member of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands. He served in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2011, first as a member of the Reform Party of Canada and subsequently as a member of the Canadian Alliance and the...

 indicated in a letter that he wished to fire CNSC chair Linda Keen over the matter. The Ottawa Citizen obtained and published Lunn's letter to Keen on January 8, 2008. Keen responded by going public with her own questioning of Lunn, publishing a letter on CNSC's website on January 9 and requesting the Police and the Privacy Commissioner investigate the leaking of in-confidence documentation.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser
Sheila Fraser
Sheila Fraser served as Auditor General of Canada from 2001 to 2011.Ms. Fraser was born in Dundee, Quebec, Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1972. She then became a chartered accountant in 1974 and FCA in 1994...

, acting upon a request from Keen, had investigated AECL's situation, and issued a report to AECL's board of directors in late August 2007, indicating also that Lunn, who oversees AECL at the political level, should be informed. Fraser's report pinpointed serious government funding deficiencies for AECL, which had held back necessary expansion, upgrading, and replacement of its facilities. Opposition politicians defended Keen, called for Lunn to be fired, and for the report to be made public.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

 backed Lunn, (http://www.theglobeandmail.com, January 10, 2008) and Linda Keen was dismissed as chair of the CNSC at 10pm January 15 - 12 hours before she was to appear before a parliamentary committee. She remained a member of the CNSC board until December 2008.

On January 29, 2008, the former President of the CNSC, Linda Keen, testified before the House Standing Committee on Natural Resources that the risk of fuel failure in the NRU reactor was "1 in 1000", and claimed this risk to be a thousand times greater than the "international standard of one in one million". These claims were challenged by AECL.
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