Prime Minister Harper has rammed through a special law to over-ride a decision of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The CNSC was upset to learn that AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited) had failed to install an important safety feature two years ago -- a back-up pump to prevent a core meltdown under certain accident conditions -- which was an explicit requirement of AECL's licence to operate the NRU reactor. As a result the fifty-year old NRU reactor, which has been operating in violation of its licence, was facing a month-long shutdown while the necessary safety equipment would be installed.

But Stephen Harper introduced an emergency piece of legislation to re-start the NRU isotope-production reactor at Chalk River, despite the objections of the CNSC. In fact Harper spoke derisively of the "Liberal-appointed" commission as being obstructionist in preventing the reactor from operating when its isotope production capacity is needed. (The Liberal Party is the chief opposition party.)

Harper stated in the House of Commons that there was no legitimate safety concern, that there would be no accident, because he had consulted an independent nuclear expert. This independent expert turned out to be someone from Bruce Power, who is also an active member of the Conservative Party (Harper's party), and who only read some relevant documents about the NRU situation the morning before.

One of the ironies of the Chalk River situation is the fact that the Harper Government has a bill now in Committee whose entire rationale is the fact that large-scale catastrophic or near-catastrophic accidents can occur in nuclear reactors. Yet Harper tells the House that accidents are not going to happen.

The government has introduced Bill C-5 to replace the old Nuclear Liability Act, which limits the liability of a nuclear facility owner in case of off-site damages caused by a nuclear accident. The old act had a limit of $75 million. The new (proposed) act has a liability limit of $650 million.

The reasons for this kind of legislation, which has its counterparts in the USA and in Europe, can be understood by reading a brief history : http://ccnr.org/insurance.html .

The proposed bill C-5 can be found at the following link
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=3086386&file=4