LEGISLATION PASSED, AECL RESTARTS REACTOR

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002260 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FRO WHA, OES, AND ISN HHS FOR OFFICE OF GLOBAL HEALTH AFFAIRS DOE FOR NE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO ECON KSCA CA SUBJECT: LEGISLATION PASSED, AECL RESTARTS REACTOR REF: OTTAWA 2255 Sensitive But Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. (SBU) The Canadian Senate passed Bill C-38 the evening of December 12, and it received Royal Assent shortly thereafter, making the bill law and completing an extraordinary legislative journey that saw the Canadian Parliament override the country's nuclear regulator. The new law permits AECL to restart and continue operating its National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, for a period of 120 days, despite NRU's non-conformance with the conditions of its operating license. The matter at issue, the installation of "seismically qualified motor starters on the heavy water pumps and their connection to the emergency power supply," was mandated when the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission last renewed NRU's license in 2006. One of the two required pumps is already installed and commissioned, and AECL had assured the government the reactor could operate safely with only the one pump in place. AECL has the equipment and components in Chalk River to install and connect the second pump, but will now restart NRU before finishing the second installation. AECL has stated it can complete the work within the 120 period authorized by the legislation. As of mid-day December 13, AECL announced the restart was underway and that production of medical radioisotopes should be back to normal within seven to eight days. AECL continues to assert its "absolute and unwavering commitment to safety." As officials from Natural Resources Canada told us, all along this was more a licensing issue than a safety one. Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap WILKINS