Nuclear Emergency . . If the worst comes to pass
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 7:51 amIf the worst comes to pass
[ http://oshawaexpress.ca/viewposting.php?view=8426 ]
2015-09-08
Warren Leonard, director of the Durham Emergency Management Office, says the region has a plan in place in the event of a nuclear emergency. In years past, there have been several incidents at the nuclear generating station in Pickering, including one a senate committee dubbed the most serious in Canadian history.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
With the upcoming distribution of potassium iodine tablets, Durham residents may be wondering what will happen in the event of a nuclear emergency.
The province already has legislation in place that guides local municipalities what to do in the event of a worst-case scenario.
The local implementation of the Provincial Nuclear Emergency Response Plan falls to the Durham Emergency Management Office (DEMO).
“Under the PNERP, local municipalities like ours that have nuclear generating stations, we’re required to have a response plan and they must confirm to the provincial plan. So the response actions and the decisions during a response are really made at the provincial level and locally…we implement those,” says Warren Leonard, DEMO’s director.
The level of the response, Leonard says, depends on the severity of the incident and how the province chooses to respond.
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Past incidents
There have been several incidents at the Pickering station, the older of Durham’s two nuclear plants.
On Aug. 1, 1983, a pressure tube in one of the plant’s reactors developed a split, leading to it to being shut down. The cause of the split was found to be the mislocation of spacer springs, which allowed the pressure tube to sag inside of the calandria tube, leading to more hydrogen in cooler areas, thus making the tube more brittle.
As a result, all of the pressure tubes in Pickering’s A reactors – where the incident occurred – were replaced.
On Dec. 10, 1994, an accident dubbed the most serious in Canadian history by the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources occurred. According to the committee’s 2001 report, a pipe broke in one of the reactors in Pickering A, resulting in a major loss of coolant and the spill of 185 tonnes of heavy water, which is used as a neutron moderator in CANDU reactors such as that at Pickering. The plant’s emergency core cooling system was used to prevent a meltdown.
[ http://oshawaexpress.ca/viewposting.php?view=8426 ]
2015-09-08
Warren Leonard, director of the Durham Emergency Management Office, says the region has a plan in place in the event of a nuclear emergency. In years past, there have been several incidents at the nuclear generating station in Pickering, including one a senate committee dubbed the most serious in Canadian history.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
With the upcoming distribution of potassium iodine tablets, Durham residents may be wondering what will happen in the event of a nuclear emergency.
The province already has legislation in place that guides local municipalities what to do in the event of a worst-case scenario.
The local implementation of the Provincial Nuclear Emergency Response Plan falls to the Durham Emergency Management Office (DEMO).
“Under the PNERP, local municipalities like ours that have nuclear generating stations, we’re required to have a response plan and they must confirm to the provincial plan. So the response actions and the decisions during a response are really made at the provincial level and locally…we implement those,” says Warren Leonard, DEMO’s director.
The level of the response, Leonard says, depends on the severity of the incident and how the province chooses to respond.
- - - SNIP - - -
Past incidents
There have been several incidents at the Pickering station, the older of Durham’s two nuclear plants.
On Aug. 1, 1983, a pressure tube in one of the plant’s reactors developed a split, leading to it to being shut down. The cause of the split was found to be the mislocation of spacer springs, which allowed the pressure tube to sag inside of the calandria tube, leading to more hydrogen in cooler areas, thus making the tube more brittle.
As a result, all of the pressure tubes in Pickering’s A reactors – where the incident occurred – were replaced.
On Dec. 10, 1994, an accident dubbed the most serious in Canadian history by the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources occurred. According to the committee’s 2001 report, a pipe broke in one of the reactors in Pickering A, resulting in a major loss of coolant and the spill of 185 tonnes of heavy water, which is used as a neutron moderator in CANDU reactors such as that at Pickering. The plant’s emergency core cooling system was used to prevent a meltdown.