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Minister fires off letter questioning her leadership in Chalk River crisis
The Harper government is poised to fire Linda Keen, Canada’s top nuclear watchdog, amid renewed accusations that public health and confidence in nuclear safety have been jeopardized by her uncompromising handling of the Chalk River medical isotope scare.
In a searing letter obtained by the Citizen, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn accuses the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission of refusing to heed a ministerial “directive” from him and Health Minister Tony Clement to allow the restart of the isotope-producing nuclear reactor.
“Serious questions have arisen about whether the commission, under your leadership, could have dealt more appropriately with the risk management of the situation,” Mr. Lunn writes in the three-page letter, dated Dec. 27.
Despite intense political pressure at the time, including a personal attack by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Ms. Keen insisted the 50-year-old reactor, Canada’s oldest, remain shut down until work was completed on a backup safety system to prevent the remote risk of a core meltdown during an earthquake or other disaster.
That put the government in the position of having to enact legislation overruling the nuclear regulator in the name of nuclear medicine, embodied by Canada’s world-leading global molecular imaging and radiotherapeutics market, led by Ottawa’s MDS Nordion.
“These events cast doubt on whether you possess the fundamental good judgement required by the incumbent of the office of president of the commission,” writes Mr. Lunn. “These doubts have led me to question whether you should continue to serve as president of the commission. I am considering making a recommendation to the Governor in Council (cabinet) that your designation as president of the commission be terminated.”
Ms. Keen has until late Thursday to respond with “any submissions that you believe should be taken into account before a decision is made regarding your continued role as president of the commission.”
The threatened action appears to pre-empt a review promised by Mr. Harper, who vowed that, “the government will carefully examine the role of all actors in this incident and make sure that accountability is appropriately restored.”
Ms. Keen is in her second five-year term since assuming the post in January 2001. She came to the commission after previous key roles within provincial governments and with the federal ministry of agriculture and, later, as an assistant deputy minister at Natural Resources Canada.
Meanwhile, the commission yesterday alerted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and asked the RCMP to investigate the source of the leaked letter to the newspaper. “The fact that the letter has been leaked is a privacy breach,” said spokesman Aurele Gervais, who refused further comment.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Lunn confirmed a letter was sent to Ms. Keen, but also refused additional comment about the “private communication.”
The commission insisted its decision in November to pressure Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to voluntarily shut down its National Research Universal reactor until the upgrade was completed was essential for its safe operation. The commission also said it was necessary if the firm was to comply with its operating licence.
But the extended shutdown triggered a crisis in the supply of medical isotopes. The reactor produces more than half of the world’s isotopes used in the treatment of cancer, other diseases and medical therapies.
In the highly charged debate that ensued, Mr. Harper accused the commission of putting lives in danger and called scientist-turned-career-bureaucrat Ms. Keen a Liberal partisan because she was appointed by the previous government.
With support of opposition MPs, the government rushed through legislation overriding the commission. The reactor restarted Dec. 16 and is allowed to operate for 120 days, during which time the upgrades are to be completed.
The government’s dressing down of the commission enraged defenders of the independent agency, which reports to Parliament through the minister of Natural Resources Canada.
But Mr. Lunn’s letter suggests the government has no intent of backing down. He vents particular outrage at the commission’s failure to yield to the Dec. 10 government directive.
“The commission … may not have appropriately considered relevant evidence regarding the impact of the continuing shutdown … on the health of Canadians,” he writes. “I require an explanation of why the commission, under your leadership, persisted in its refusal to consider this relevant evidence even after it was brought to your attention … by Minister Clement and myself.
“The continuing refusal of the commission, under your leadership, to prevent unreasonable risk to the health of Canadians potentially undermines public confidence in the regulation of the nuclear industry in Canada.”
Despite threatening to strip Ms. Keen of the presidency, Mr. Lunn offers that whatever happens, she will be allowed to remain sitting as a full-time member of the commission’s tribunal.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008