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Will the Harper Government Outlaw Nuclear Accidents?Category: Politics A few months ago, the CNSC closed the Chalk River reactor over safety concerns. The reactor did not meet safety requirements that the cooling system be connected to a backup power system. The resulting shortage of isotopes used in medical diagnoses led the Harper government to pass legislation to override the nuclear safety requirements and get the reactor operating again. The Conservatives entered a very public battle with the CNSC over the issue, politicizing the issue by branding Keen a "Liberal appointee". Finally, hours before Keen was scheduled to testify at a Natural Resources committee meeting, the Conservative government fired Keen from her position at the CNSC. This whole affair is disturbing for a number of reasons. Does Stephen Harper believe that he is somehow above the laws of physics? The reactor at Chalk River is 50 years old. If there were an accident, it could have disasterous consequences. You can't just pass legislation telling Mother Nature that there shall not be a nuclear accident! If there is a problem with the system, it may well fail, and then the only thing stopping an environment disaster is proper operation of the backup systems. If the backup systems aren't up to snuff, as is the case at Chalk River, you're only inviting disaster. The other disturbing aspect is that Harper, yet again, is putting his profound personal hatred of liberals to the forefront. Anyone with any possible tie to the Liberal party is suspect, and must be eradicated regardless of qualifications and abilities. In this case, Linda Keen would be well justified in suing the government for wrongful dismissal. (BTW, the Wikipedia entry on Stephen Harper reports (without citation) that he was a member of his school's Young Liberals Club. Can that really be true? Did that have anything to do with his current hatred of Liberals?) Perhaps we need to elect a few scientists to properly represent our interests in Ottawa, not lawyers and economists. Hans path: /Politics | permanent link to this entry  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
