An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  It is because this is outside its licence that it applied for and received in August 2006, that the tribunal would be required, under the law, the law that the tribunal would have to meet, but we have talked to our members and they would be prepared to meet in 24 hours to get this done, assuming that it is a good safety case and that the staff recommends it, and we would move this forward.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, the requirement under international standards are for a convention on nuclear safety, which is a peer review group on various areas. A month ago, I chaired the first meeting ever on the code of conduct for research reactors in Australia. What we have found up to now is that these are voluntary standards for research reactors.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  You have the microphone. You start.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I would like to reinforce that because the industry has the ultimate responsibility to put together a safety organization and in fact ensure that there is good communication. The commission often asks when licences come before us what is the communication situation on any particular area?

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  That is correct.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  I did work both in industry, and with the federal and provincial governments, yes.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Yes, I would like to answer this question by saying that I am an Albertan. I was born in Alberta. I never belonged to any political party in my life. I joined the public service in fact when there was another government in power. I am saying that I am non-partisan. I serve with good behaviour.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Yes and I was appointed by the Public Service Commission.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  I have no idea. I was interviewed by PMO. What they did was they went out and searched for people. I applied, I was interviewed, and I was given the appointment. I have no idea about the recommendation. I applied for the job.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  I will have to recall because--

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  I wanted to mention this, and then I am going to turn it over to Mr. Howden for the specifics of the start-up. When we look at the issues of the act, the commission was not consulted on the act. We received copies just very recently and we did not have legal counsel because justice took it away.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, subclause 1(2) in the legislation says, “Atomic Energy of Canada Limited may resume and continue the operation of the National Research Unit Reactor at Chalk River only if it is satisfied that it is safe to do so” in other respects. What that means to the CNSC is that the legislation is giving AECL its own self-regulation and own oversight.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, in looking at this reactor, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, the CNSC was very concerned that it was a 50-year-old reactor. We asked for these safety upgrades to bring it up to a point where the commission could look at this. When we looked at this and licensed it in August 2006, it was under the express understanding that those upgrades were done to bring it up to those standards.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I would like to say that this question is best answered by AECL. On the question as to why the measures were not put into place when the licence was given in August 2006, the commission made its requirements absolutely clear and so those measures are clearly outlined in the licence.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, it is important that I clarify matters somewhat. When we talk about a safety case, we are talking about a complete safety case. What we had discussed earlier was that on November 30, Mr. Howden said that AECL had discussed with him the situation of a single pump that at that point had been put aside as a possibility.