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A federal government order closing a Pembroke factory that makes glow-in-the-dark aircraft signs and hardware for covert night military operations is a strategic loss for Canada, the company president said yesterday.
Stephane Levesque, who runs SRB Technologies, said the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s order to close the plant this week because of radioactive tritium contamination in groundwater was a shock because the commission had recently recommended an 18-month licence extension. Closing the company will mean the loss of 36 Pembroke jobs.
Tritium is a weakly radioactive form of hydrogen the company obtains from heavy water used to cool nuclear power plants.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which regulates the nuclear industry, said the company’s record for environmental protection was “significantly below requirements.”
Recent surface water tests near the plant showed readings of up to 59 million Becquerels per litre—more than 8,400 times the government limit for radioactivity in drinking water.
Canada allows up to 7,000 Becquerels of radioactivity in a litre of drinking water. (A Becquerel is the smallest measurable unit of radioactivity.)
SRB products work for years without electric power because radioactive tritium gas causes phosphorescent powder in glass tubes to glow in the dark. The devices produce the same amount of light as chemical glow sticks sold to children.
Mr. Levesque said ceasing production of the SRB’s specialized military hardware would be a loss because the company is the sole supplier to NATO forces of self-illuminating map reading lights, minefield markers and artillery and mortar aiming devices for nighttime use. The company also makes emergency exit signs for buildings and many of the world’s commercial aircraft.
“I was disappointed that we were ordered to cease tritium processing,” Mr. Levesque said. “The military won’t be able to get devices for marking landmines like they use in Iraq and Afghanistan because no one else can make them.”
Mr. Levesque wants to appeal the commission’s decision.
Commission spokeswoman Sunni Locatelli said the contamination of groundwater does not pose a risk to the public because it is not used as a source of drinking water. The plant’s water distribution system is closed and is fed by a surface water source not connected to the groundwater contamination.
But Ms. Locatelli said commission staff concluded the risk of continuing plant operations posed an unacceptable risk to the environment.
Earlier this year tests of groundwater found:
– Wells within 200 metres of the plant show 3,000 to 5,000 Becquerels per litre. That’s within the drinking water guideline, but far higher than the natural “background” level of less than 10 per litre. (Pembroke residents don’t drink this well water; they have city water piped in.)
– One groundwater test at the edge of plant property showed 58,000 Becquerels. Two others, also at the edge of the plant land, were 2,300 and 2,400.
– The highest concentration in groundwater—560,000 per litre, or 80 times the maximum allowed in drinking water—showed up in May in soil samples beside the factory.
Pembroke Mayor Ed Jacyno said the commission had issued a confusing message, saying the plant poses no danger to public safety, but ordered it to close. He added the city has lost 6,000 manufacturing jobs this year and the plant closing would be another blow to the city.
“On one hand, assurances are being made that radiation doses to people working in the vicinity are below the regulatory limits and do not pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety,” Mr. Jacyno said. “On the other hand, orders are issued, at times it seems arbitrarily.”
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006