New Nuclear Watchdog 'Breath of Fresh Air' Says Saskatchewan Premier

February 26, 2009

By Bruce Cheadle, the Associated Press

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is praising the new federal
nuclear regulator as a "breath of fresh air" that will help speed burdensome project licensing.
Wall, speaking to the annual trade show of Canada's nuclear
industry, positioned himself as perhaps the most unabashedly
pro-nuclear elected official in the country.
"It is time to be audacious," said the Saskatchewan Party leader.
Wall said there are strong signals - starting with Michael Binder
at the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission - that Ottawa is
onside with an emerging global nuclear renaissance.
Binder, in an earlier presentation to the trade show, said he's
looking at ways of making the approvals process more efficient without
undermining any safety or environmental protections.
Binder replaced Linda Keen last year after the Conservative
government fired Keen for refusing to approve the re-start of the
aging research reactor at Chalk River, Ont.
Wall drew a laugh from the 700-plus nuclear industry insiders
when he said there must be a compromise between the current regulatory
load and "Montgomery Burns" - the evil nuclear plant owner from the
Simpsons cartoon.
Wall says Saskatchewan is eager to become more than just one of
the world's major sources of raw uranium and would like to branch into
everything from uranium enrichment to medical research and the
development of small reactor technology.
He said small reactors have been used for decades in nuclear
submarines and aircraft carriers and might be a solution to energy
needs in a vast, sparsely populated country such as Canada.
"I thought, it can't be that far away (in the future) and, of
course, you know that it may not be."
He also raised the prospect of Saskatchewan being involved in
replacing Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.'s Chalk River reactor.
The NRU reactor is currently the source of about one-half of the global supply of medical imaging isotopes. But it is 52 years old,
nearing the end of its current licence and recently has been plagued
by a series of radioactive leaks.
In an interview, Wall dismissed published reports that his
government wants to become an active partner in AECL, a Crown
corporation that the federal government is considering privatizing.
"Our government doesn't really want to use taxpayers as
involuntary venture capitalists in commercial business," said Wall.
However, he said, Saskatchewan is interested in direct government
involvement in nuclear research.
As AECL looks beyond Chalk River, he said, "we would be very
interested in playing a part in that."
Wall's candour in promoting the nuclear industry is a refreshing
change from his federal counterparts and ideological brethren in Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's government.
The premier praised the Conservatives for their "open-minded"
attitude to AECL's future in his speech, although Ottawa's intentions for the
Crown corporation remain cloaked in secrecy - as does most federal
nuclear policy.
Enriching uranium in Canada, for instance, requires international
approval that the Conservatives are currently negotiating, although
the government won't talk publicly about the initiative.

Wall says when it comes to enriching uranium, Canada is being
lumped in with such nuclear renegades as Iran and North Korea.
"It's crazy because here we are, we produce 20 or 30 per cent of
the world's uranium - and we're Canada, in terms of stability and
environmental rigours. Obviously it should be happening here."
His comments came the same day The Canadian Press received a
background document on Canada's international negotiating position
regarding uranium enrichment.
The document, obtained through Access to Information and dated
Nov. 4, 2008, indicates Canada is being offered enrichment rights only
under a "black box" arrangement that would not allow Canadian
companies access to the enrichment technology itself.
"Canadian industry advises us that without full access to and
control over technology, it will never be able to fully exploit the
synergies that go with control of both the uranium supply and
enrichment," states the document, prepared for Foreign Affairs
Minister Lawrence Cannon.
"Therefore, black box arrangements do not meet Canadian
interests."
Premier Wall was asked why Canadians have never heard a federal
cabinet minister make such a case and he pointed to deeply divided
public opinion on nuclear issues.
It is difficult for a minority government such as Harper's, said
Wall, "to further (advance) sea change in any industry - let alone one
that has the attendant public debate of the nuclear industry."