Mr. McGee, you said that you could have the safety case by Thursday. Is that correct?
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An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. McGee, you said that you could have the safety case by Thursday. Is that correct?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I am not sure why we need this act then. Does AECL need this act for the reactor to start up as quickly as possible?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. Chair, my question is for the AECL.
If this act passes and this reactor is no longer under the regulation of the commission, will this have any impact on your insurance?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I have another question for the commission.
Before I follow up on what I was asking, what kind of affect would this act have on our international obligations? The nuclear safety act says that one of the reasons the commission was established was for us to comply with a lot of international obligations and treaties. What kind of impact will this act have on international treaties?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
We are getting somewhere, Mr. Chair. By Thursday you can have the safety case completed and we are hearing from the commission that it will take a day or so to assess it and then another day to get the tribunal set up.
Is it safe to assume that the commission has an idea? Apparently, AECL had submitted something that was incomplete so I am assuming that it should not take as long for the safety case to be examined since you have some of the information already available and all you need is some of the information that is missing.
Could this be expedited? What we need to understand today is whether we can get this done as quickly as possible without, in my opinion, the necessity for this unusual precedent.
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Ms. Keen, if you receive the safety case by Thursday, how quickly will the commission be able to adjudicate that case and make a judgment?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. Chair, my purpose here is not to assess blame at all. My purpose here is to show that the regulator has a role to play and that in fact occasional mistakes t happen, which is why this is very important. History will tell us a lot about what needs to be done and the importance of the regulator.
I want to be very specific because all of us here want the nuclear reactor to be up as quickly as possible. In my opinion, this legislation will set an unusual precedent and in fact a dangerous precedent. We need to find a way to get it working as quickly as possible without this act and see what the difference is, and see if it is worth taking this unusual precedent.
I know you talked about the safety case, but how quickly can you get the safety case application up to standard to what the commission is expecting you to give them?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. McGee, do you accept the fact that AECL had accepted the recommendations of the commission 16 months ago during the licence and that it needed six or seven recommendations in order for them to be in compliance with the licence? Is that accurate? Did AECL accept those recommendations to be in compliance?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. Chair, I hope the minister can table for us the legal opinion that he is using as guidance.
My next question is for Mr. McGee. Mr. McGee, do you accept and recognize that there is, and I know it was said earlier, the need for a regulator, the authority and responsibility of a regulator, over all nuclear reactors?
An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River December 11th, 2007
Mr. Chair, that was a straightforward question, because subclause (2) states:
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited may resume and continue the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River only if it is satisfied that it is safe to do so.
It does not talk about the pump. In my opinion, and I want the minister to confirm this, the regulator is not regulating this reactor according to the act. If this act receives royal recommendation, the regulator will not have regulation over that nuclear reactor?