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The president of SRB Technologies (SRBT) was at Pembroke’s finance and administration committee on Tuesday evening to speak in support of the company’s application for permission to resume processing and use of tritium.
Stephane Levesque outlined corrective action which his company hopes will allay the concerns that led the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in January of 2007 to prohibit the processing of tritium by his company.
He told city councillors that his company is the original developer of the tritium light source.
“Our products are crucial to ensure the safety and security of people all over the world,” he said. “They are used by NATO peacekeeping forces and, unlike other lighting technologies, do not require wiring, power, or batteries.”
He said the products do not use electricity and so aid the environment against global warming.
He said the company is at present purchasing some light sources from competitors, which reduces profitability.
“Competitors are not capable of supplying all the different types of light sources,” he said. “SRB is therefore unable to honour some important contracts.”
He added that purchasing the lights also reduces employment. The company currently has 15 employees, but has, in the past, had up to 40. He also told councillors that purchasing tritium would provide the ability to make further improvements to the operation, to continue to monitor the environment and the groundwater and to pay into a decommissioning fund which covers 100 per cent of the cost of the safe shutdown state of the facility.
He said SRBT has evaluated whether to stay at its present location or move, but said the company has built strong relationships with the community.
“We have made a significant investment in understanding the local environmental conditions,” he said. “The company enjoys the support of a skilled and motivated workforce and the existing plant and equipment has been carefully tuned over the past two years.”
He said the company will be telling the CNSC that it has reviewed responsibilities of individuals to ensure that there are no omissions or overlaps and that it has developed a stringent internal audit plan with emphasis on safety.
“That’s in addition to audits already performed by the CNSC,” he said.
He said SRB has been criticized for performing little review of the work produced by consultants.
“We have since recognized that the use of consultants can lead to declining safety,” he said. “A lot don’t take ownership of their work and cut corners sometimes. We thought we were fine using CNSC licensees, but not so. SRB now understands that the responsibility for safety rests with SRB.”
Mr. Levesque also outlined public relations measures that have been put in place.
“As a result of concerns expressed by some members of the public and local interest groups, SRB has incorporated in its application no operation of the reclamation unit, which is used to recycle old light sources, after these groups told us that was their biggest concern,” he said.
The plan also includes regularly providing City of Pembroke officials and the local member of parliament with information.
“We have held a number of meetings with our landlord and neighbours to provide information and we have held discussions with media to help ensure that future reporting is accurate,” he said.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will hold a two-day public hearing into SRBT’s application this spring. The first hearing is set for April 3 and the second for June 12.
mzettler@thedailyobserver.ca
The Daily Observer