Natural Resources committee  Yes. We have a lot of improvement work to do in order to renew the operating licence in 2011, so we'll be undertaking some of that work, but at no time will we allow any other work to interfere with the primary repair of putting the NRU back into service.

Natural Resources committee  Although we have backup power supplies, they are only capable of maintaining NRU safe in a shutdown state. The NRU actually consumes quite a bit of power in its operation, and we do not have electrical backup capability to allow it to continue to operate when we lose off-site power.

Natural Resources committee  That's a good question. Our monitoring for leaks is completely independent of whether the reactor is operating or shut down. We're able to detect leaks by detecting tritium at very low levels. Our systems are very sensitive, and whether the reactor is operating or shut down, we can detect leaks at very low levels.

Natural Resources committee  I can't exactly answer that. We're somewhat unique, or are at least in a small family, because we operate a heavy-water-moderated reactor. It allows us to be very versatile; however, it also allows us to detect very small leaks. I really can't speak to other reactors, but generally I would say the leaks are not common, but they do occur.

Natural Resources committee  We do have a lot of knowledge and experience in the business, and parts of that knowledge base are critical to getting the NRU back online, and we'll be applying that specifically to the repairs. However, we do have additional expertise in other areas, which, if a request were made, could be available to support another producer.

Natural Resources committee  We have a highly trained and competent staff, and we have standards on the operation and maintenance of the NRU facility that have to be met that are the highest standards. All our operation is overseen by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. They have inspectors onsite. We report regularly to them, and their mission is to ensure the safety of the public.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, the public is 100% safe.

Natural Resources committee  We have several communication lines for this type of situation. When we have a forced shutdown or an unexpected shutdown of the NRU because of the loss of the off-site power, we have an obligation to inform the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission immediately.

Natural Resources committee  We did that. We also have in place a communications protocol, which we put into action. This includes a decision on the apparent severity of the shutdown. That information is communicated to me by the operating staff, from me to Mr. MacDiarmid, and then, depending on the severity, it is communicated more broadly through the government.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, we've had some practice with it. It's been in effect now for more than a year. I think it works effectively. The information gets out. I might point out that we've recently turned our focus to communication with our stakeholders and with the public. We are now getting more information out to the public more quickly than we did in the past.

Natural Resources committee  I think that's an important point, because at no point are we mothballing the NRU reactor.

Natural Resources committee  Licensing and other improvements to make the facility more reliable going into the future.

Natural Resources committee  But it's an appropriate term. If you take a reactor out of service and do not maintain it for a period of time, then you're correct: the longer it's out of service, the more challenging it is to put it back into service. However, in the case of the NRU, we're actively repairing the reactor and we're maintaining it in service in a shutdown state through this whole period.

Natural Resources committee  At this point we believe we will. We're looking at a number of repair strategies, but given the nature of the corrosion, we believe at this point we will have to complete the defuelling and drain the vessel.

Natural Resources committee  Again, I cannot give you a timeline until we have the plan.