CommPost

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

STRIKE BACK

UPDATE

http://impolitical.blogspot.com/2008/01/two-earthquakes-near-chalk-river.html

So it appears as though the CNSC wasn't as overbearing as we thought. There were two earthquakes in the past month in proximity to chalk river. While they did not appear to cause any damage the activity of the fault line and the sensitivity of managing and running a nuclear reactor suggest to me that one would want to be overly cautious rather than flippant as our government has been on this issue.

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In all the noise of the Chalk River nuclear shut down, who was responsible and who did what wrong the latest chapter is the back and forth correspondence between Minister Lunn and the President of the CNSC Linda Keen.

I think the tone, ill informed content, and distain for public institutions contained in Minister Lunn's letter (and indeed the government response to this overall) speaks of what will happen on a national scale should Harper and the Conservatives ever get a majority. Lets get these guys out of here!

Letter from minister lunn

http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/newsroom/issues/corr_letter_min_cnsc.pdf

Letter in response from Linda Keen

http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/newsroom/issues/corr_letter_cnsc_min.pdf

You decide

Cheers,

P

3 Comments:

  • Yeah, the way Lunn is handling this is unfortunate. He let anger and frustration get the best of him, and I’m sure he regrets it now that the letter is out in the public.

    I can certainly see why Harper tries to hold a heavy rein on his Ministers – in order to make sure they don't do, say or write things they'd or the Party will regret. The letter Lunn wrote is one such example, and I bet Harper would have preferred a more delicate approach…and Lunn in retrospect…so that a public controversy would be avoided. Harper will probably want to re-double his efforts on censoring/approving all future correspondence from his Ministers, LOL.

    But I don't think the Conservations are the only ones with dirt on their hands. As you know, all parties voted yes to the Bill that gave parliament the power to supersede the Nuclear Safety Commission, and to re-activate the Chalk River nuclear reactor despite the reported, and unresolved, safety concerns. I'm not saying the Tories are handling this well. I'm saying they're not alone in bungling the nuclear file in general and the Chalk River re-start in particular.

    Dion and the Liberals, by virtue of the fact that they voted in favour of Bill-C38, essentially disproved and invalidated the Commission's stance that re-starting the reactor would be an imminent human health risk.

    Mark C

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:29 AM  

  • I agree. Which is why I will likely vote green in teh next election. As shocking as it seems they seem like the only party who actually has their acts and priorities straight.

    Cheers,

    P

    PS just so people are clear I do suppport nuclear energy quite strongly. I also support even more strongly safety measures to ensure that we can use such power without disastrous consequences.

    By Blogger Patrick, at 11:26 AM  

  • Hey Pat,

    Regarding whether I'll still be in Lux in March, the short answer is, I hope not. It depends entirely on how soon I find a job and can start it, and where it is. There's a decent chance I won't be too far, though, so I'll let you know when the time is closer.

    By Blogger Dave, at 4:52 AM  

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