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A group that promotes awareness when it comes to the use of tritium said Wednesday the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has been too lenient when dealing with leaks at the Chalk River nuclear reactor. Representatives from the Tritium Awareness Project said they think the safety commission should impose tighter restrictions when it comes to the tritium that is occasionally released from both the plant's stack and through leaks of the plant's heavy water that allow tritium to evaporate into the air. Tritium is a gas and a radioactive isotope of hydrogen and is a byproduct of nuclear power generation and is used to create fluorescent products such as lights and signs. "The CNSC's attitude seems to be, 'If that's what they want to do, then it's our job is just to grant them a licence,'" said Gordon Edwards, who speaks for the Tritium Awareness Project.

An expert panel is recommending that the federal government build a new nuclear reactor to produce medical isotopes and guarantee an adequate supply for the country. The Expert Review Panel On Medical Isotope Production says the best way to keep isotopes stocked is to build a new research reactor to replace the downed unit at Chalk River, Ont. It makes the recommendation in a report to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, which the government received Monday and released Thursday. "We recommend that the government expeditiously engage in the replacement of the (National Research Universal) reactor as we believe a multipurpose research reactor represents the best primary option to create a sustainable source of (the isotope molybdenum 99), recognizing that the reactor's other missions would also play a role in justifying the costs," the report says.

An expert panel is recommending that the federal government build a new nuclear reactor to produce medical isotopes and guarantee an adequate supply for the country. The Expert Review Panel On Medical Isotope Production says the best way to keep isotopes stocked is to build a new research reactor to replace the downed unit at Chalk River, Ont. It makes the recommendation in a report to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, which the government received Monday and released Thursday. "We recommend that the government expeditiously engage in the replacement of the (National Research Universal) reactor as we believe a multipurpose research reactor represents the best primary option to create a sustainable source of (the isotope molybdenum 99), recognizing that the reactor's other missions would also play a role in justifying the costs," the report says.

Canada's top doctor of nuclear medicine has slammed the Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production for wasting months to deliver a near useless report on how to replace the broken nuclear reactor at Chalk River. The panel was created in the spring by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt to find alternative supplies of medical isotopes used in cancer and heart scans, after the NRU reactor went down for extended repairs. "The report is comprehensive but doesn't bring anything new to the table. Everything we knew already," said Jean-Luc Urbain, president of the Canadian Society of Nuclear Medicine. The key recommendation was to build a new reactor for between $500 million and $1.2 billion. The report all but dismissed the prospect of revisiting the Maple I and II reactors, which were supposed to replace the NRU reactor but ran $700 million over budget before being abandoned.

Canada's top doctor of nuclear medicine has slammed the Expert Review Panel on Medical Isotope Production for wasting months to deliver a near useless report on how to replace the broken nuclear reactor at Chalk River. The panel was created in the spring by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt to find alternative supplies of medical isotopes used in cancer and heart scans, after the NRU reactor went down for extended repairs. "The report is comprehensive but doesn't bring anything new to the table. Everything we knew already," said Jean-Luc Urbain, president of the Canadian Society of Nuclear Medicine. The key recommendation was to build a new reactor for between $500 million and $1.2 billion. The report all but dismissed the prospect of revisiting the Maple I and II reactors, which were supposed to replace the NRU reactor but ran $700 million over budget before being abandoned.

"Words have precise meanings. The French word "renaissance" is made up of two parts -- "re" to repeat and "naissance" birth. It achieved wide use in the medieval times to describe Western Europe's rediscovery of Greek and Roman art, literature and architecture. Note the word involves three stages, a time of greatness, followed by a loss and then a revival. In no way can the word be used to describe things nuclear. Thanks to the diligence by the media, there never has been an initial time of nuclear greatness. Instead, we have an easy to remember list of disasters and dangers: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Bikini atoll, Nevada desert, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Sellafield-Windscale, and Chalk River."

Cheryl Gallant, MP Renfrew- Nipissing-Pembroke, has confirmed that the program recently announced by the federal government to recognize the service of atomic veterans is now accepting applications. "Women and men in the service of their country, past or present, deserve the respect, admiration and care of a grateful nation," said MP Gallant. "Prime Minister Stephen Harper and our government are committed to the care and well-being of our veterans and recognize the service of those who participated in nuclear weapons testing and in nuclear decontamination work. This program recognizes the exceptional service that these individuals have performed for their country." Canadian military veterans and civilian science and technology workers from the Department of National Defence who participated in nuclear weapons tests and the Chalk River decontamination efforts performed their duty under exceptional circumstances. In recognition of their exceptional service to the nation, these Canadians will be eligible to apply for an ex-gratia payment of $24,000.

OTTAWA-He is known as an "atomic veteran" and said his last wish would be to thank the federal government for something he believes it has not yet done. Bren Keetch, 70, remembers being loaded into trucks with other recruits and taken from the Petawawa military base to the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. plant in Chalk River, Ont., to clean up after a nuclear reactor accident in 1958. "We were dressed in calf-high rubber boots, wearing a pair of coveralls, woollen mittens and a First World War gas mask," he said. "That was our protective equipment when we were in nuclear wastewater over our boots and mopping up the spill."

Canada's atomic veterans say they are being kept "in the dark" about the details of a financial package to compensate them for their exposure to nuclear blasts during the Cold War. The government announced the package last week, but the retired military personnel are still trying to get answers about the compensation, which one veteran labelled as a political move by the Conservatives to deal with an embarrassing issue so it doesn't become a problem in the election campaign. Those who took part in the atomic tests or were involved in the cleanup after a reactor accident at Chalk River, Ont., in the 1950s are eligible to apply for a $24,000 payment.

Former Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission boss Linda Keen has stepped down from her role on the CNSC's board of directors, complaining she has been demoted by the government to a position that is an "artificial creation." Keen was president and CEO of the CNSC when the Chalk River nuclear reactor was shut down last year over safety concerns. The shutdown led to a worldwide shortage of medical isotopes until Parliament issued an emergency order to restart the Atomic Energy of Canada reactor, overriding Keen's objections.

Deposed nuclear-safety chief Linda Keen has quit her diminished job with Canada's atomic-industry watchdog and is speaking out about the need to protect a non-partisan public service. In a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the former president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) resigned Monday as she was scheduled to assume her demoted post as a commissioner with the federal agency. The Harper government fired her from the top job after the commission forced a shutdown last fall at a Chalk River reactor that produces vital isotopes for medical uses.

When the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was struggling last December with a shortage of medical isotopes sparked by the Chalk River reactor shutdown, it was also dealing with another Ontario nuclear plant where there had been an "unprecedented" weld failure on one fuel bundle. In all, 10 defective welds were found on the fuel bundle, a collection of processed uranium rods resembling the barrel of a Gatling gun about a half-metre long.

Already eight years late and 400 per cent over budget, the federal government's new $600-million nuclear reactors don't work and will likely never be in service, highly placed sources told Sun Media.

More than 554 phone inquiries have been received, more than 300 application packages have been sent out and the first payments have already been mailed for the Atomic Veterans Recognition Program (ARVP). Everything is progressing very well. We have received 244 completed applications packages and those are being reviewed by the program office. CF Veterans and National Defence civilian employees who participated in nuclear weapons tests and the Chalk River decontamination efforts performed their duty under exceptional circumstances. The ARVP was announced in September 2008 by Defence Minister Peter MacKay to recognize the unique service of these individuals.

A group of retired soldiers, who say they were ordered to help decontaminate a 1958 nuclear accident without the right protective gear, is suing the Defence Department. The class-action suit on behalf of three soldiers and the estates of two others accuses the government of negligence and deceit. The suit says they didn't get proper protective clothing, weren't correctly decontaminated after their shifts and that the government covered things up by purging their records of references to the incident at Chalk River, Ont.

If only the political melodrama would end; if only the Chalk River reactor would stop springing leaks; if only the Ontario government would buy a couple of CANDU reactors, there might be a nuclear renaissance in Canada. But that is a lot of ifs. This should be an opportune moment for Canada's once-proud nuclear industry. The world is hungry for low-carbon energy. Fossil fuel prices are rising and will stay high when governments impose caps on greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario is poised to buy two giant reactors. And dozens of countries are in the market for nuclear power. But no one is ready to predict a rosy future for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. The C.D. Howe Institute, which just completed a study of the nuclear industry, concluded that a resurgence is possible, but only if the government gets out of the nuclear reactor business, untangles its confusing array of regulations and comes up with a long-term plan to manage nuclear waste.

A Canadian nuclear reactor that normally produces a third of the world's medical isotope supply will be idled until at least October and likely longer, the Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. The Chalk River reactor in eastern Ontario has been out of operation since May 17 because of a heavy water leak. The Toronto-based newspaper, citing sources close to the situation, said government-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. plans to hold a briefing on Wednesday, when they are expected to announce they need more time to carry out repairs.

Wants to build research reactor within three years * Final decision could come as soon as August TORONTO, June 20 (Reuters) - The leader of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is seeking to build a nuclear reactor and transform his province into a producer of medical isotopes and atomic research hub, the Globe and Mail reported on Saturday. Medical isotopes have become political issue in Canada after the country's Chalk River reactor in Ontario, which normally produces about one-third of world supply, was shut down in May for at least three months because it was leaking a small amount of heavy water.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is moving to build a nuclear reactor and transform his province into a producer of medical isotopes - and a player in atomic research - to step into the gap left by the failure of the Chalk River reactor. Mr. Wall ran on a platform that included a pledge to build up a full-fledged nuclear industry in Saskatchewan, which already produces nearly a quarter of the world's uranium, but does little beyond extract the ore.

This might not seem like the best moment to put Canada's nuclear-reactor business up for sale. Headlines around the world are highlighting the fact that our research reactor, responsible for supplying as much as 40 per cent of the world's isotopes, is on the fritz. But there is no point worrying about the context. Selling some or all of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is the right decision. A major restructuring is what it needs. The Conservative plan would see AECL divided in two: The Candu reactor business would be sold as a commercial enterprise and the Chalk River facility would remain a research facility, possibly under private-sector management.