29 Jul (NucNet): A report into the circumstances that led to the extended outage of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s (AECL) National Research Universal (NRU) reactor in Ontario last year has outlined 15 specific recommendations including the need to clarify licence requirements and improve the implementation, tracking and completion of licensing commitments.
The “lessons learned” report provides the results of an independent review of implementation of NRU reactor safety system upgrades and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) licensing and oversight process.
The report said a fundamental observation is that the CNSC regulatory programme and the AECL regulatory compliance programme are “expert based” and not “process based”. The regulatory effectiveness of both organisations can be “significantly improved” by developing and implementing formal processes, to be used for establishing and complying with regulatory requirements.
In a statement yesterday, AECL said both it and CNSC have examined the report and recognise the need to clarify licence requirements and improve the implementation, tracking and completion of licensing commitments. “Both organisations have already taken action to improve communications at all levels, including a process to allow for senior management oversight and resolution when warranted,” the statement said.
The extended outage began in November 2007, when CNSC staff discovered that significant safety upgrades that were meant to be implemented by AECL in 2005 had not been carried out. AECL extended a scheduled maintenance shutdown of the reactor to complete the upgrades.
The report said one of the main reasons for the upgrades not being carried out was that AECL licences issued for the NRU in 2005 and 2006 were not clear, and did not specify in any detail exactly which NRU safety upgrades were to be installed. Specifically, two of the main heavy water pumps were not connected to the emergency power supply, even though some AECL documents described the upgrades as fully operational.
The shortage of isotopes resulting from the shutdown prompted Canada’s parliament to pass emergency legislation to put the unit back into service and resulted in the dismissal of Linda Keen as president of the CNSC in mid-January.
The reactor, which is Canada’s main facility for nuclear power research and materials research, returned to service on 16 December 2007.
The full report is available online (www.aecl.ca/Assets/Publications/Reports/Talisman.pdf).
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
AECL Research Reactor Returns To Service (News in Brief No. 45, 18 December 2007)
Joint Review To Begin Of AECL Research Reactor Shutdown (World Nuclear Review No. 7, 15 February 2008)
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