June 2, 2011
AECL to face day one
by Terry Myers
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd will go in front of the Canadian Nuclear
Safety Commission next week to ask for a new five-year licence for the
Chalk River labs.
But while staff of the CNSC support AECL's application, they say there
are still some areas where the company scores poor grades.
In their report to commission members for day one of the hearings, CNSC
staff say AECL has earned “satisfactory” ratings in 11 of 13 “safety
and control areas” during the current licence period.
Those areas include things like “operating performance,” “safety
analysis,” “radiation protection,” and “waste management.”
However, CNSC staff say AECL continues to score “below expectations” in
two areas - the company's “management system” and the “fitness for
service” of some facilities and equipment.
“Degradation of systems and components due to aging has been observed
during this licence period,” the CNSC staff report says.
The state of the NRU reactor, in particular, “garnered significant
attention” following the leak in the reactor vessel in May 2009.
The reactor was shut down for 15 months while AECL repaired the leak
and other areas of corrosion on the vessel wall.
While noting that AECL made an “acceptable safety case” to restart the
reactor, CNSC staff say they are still reviewing the company's
“integrated improvement plan” that sets out upgrades that will allow
NRU to continue operating until at least 2021.
In addition to the NRU shutdown, “unplanned events at the CRL site
continued to show weaknesses with several aspects of the (company's)
management system,” the report says.
A “root cause analysis” of the problems with NRU showed that
improvements were needed in “organization, management oversight, safety
culture and human performance.”
AECL has responded with a program called “Voyageur Phase II.”
And while the program seems to be on track, “it is CNSC staff's
conclusion that it will be some time before the improvment actions from
(the program) are fully effective,” the report says.
AECL's current licence for Chalk River runs out at the end of October.
Next week's hearing will take place Wednesday, June 8 in Ottawa.
Round two of the hearings into AECL's application will be held October
5-6 at the Chalk River Lions Hall.
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