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The Toronto Star

December 20, 2007

Allan Woods

Minister's timeline queried; Lunn 'caught in inconsistencies'

A Liberal MP is demanding to know when Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn knew about the severity of the problems at the Chalk River nuclear facility that sparked a global medical crisis.

"I think he's caught in inconsistencies and I'd like him to explain that," said Liberal critic Omar Alghabra, following a report published yesterday in which the former chair of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. said Lunn knew about the problems at least eight days earlier than he has previously admitted.

Michael Burns told The Globe and Mail that Lunn learned of the problems with the nuclear reactor in a Nov. 22 briefing, four days after the reactor was shut down.

Lunn has said he did not hear about the safety-related shutdown until Nov. 30, and didn't shift into action until Dec. 3.

Cardiac and cancer tests around the world were delayed or cancelled when the Chalk River reactor, which provides half the world's supply of medical isotopes, went off line. The problem was eventually resolved with emergency legislation last week that temporarily suspends the powers of the nuclear safety regulator.

Lunn has told the House of Commons that his office first received an email on Friday, Nov. 30, alerting him to problems with the reactor that would keep it off line until "early in December."

"After the weekend, upon learning of this and discussing it with the deputy on Dec. 4, we immediately launched into action," he said when the Commons was examining the bill to force a restart of the reactor.

Lunn said he was involved in follow-up meetings with AECL, the Crown corporation that runs the reactor, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal regulator, on Dec. 5 and Dec. 8. In those meetings, Lunn said he urged the two parties to resolve their licensing dispute. Their failure to do so resulted in the federal legislation, passed into law on Dec. 12.

Lunn's office did not respond to interview requests yesterday.

Alghabra (Mississauga-Erindale) said he suspects the government knew, or should have known, there was an impending problem, and a possible crisis situation, well before Nov. 22. At a committee hearing that day, Lunn was quizzed about why the government was giving an additional $71 million to AECL in supplementary estimates tabled on Oct. 30.

"There are some regulatory and safety issues ... that have to be dealt with, and they haven't been dealt with," Lunn testified. "The reality is that they have to be dealt with. These are regulatory issues. I have to deal with them."

Alghabra also accused Lunn of keeping Health Minister Tony Clement in the dark about "the looming public health crisis caused by the growing shortage of medical isotopes until 18 days after the reactor was shut down."

The government's delay in addressing the shutdown, and the ensuing isotope shortage, has already been the source of criticism. Clement has said he was not told of the reactor shutdown until Dec. 5.

"That is when we kicked into action in order to see what could be done given that there was an unscheduled shutdown for a longer period of time," he has said.

The Liberals have called for Auditor General Sheila Fraser to investigate the problems with AECL and the handling of this particular matter by the Conservative government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said the government will conduct a thorough review that will call both AECL and the nuclear safety regulator to account for their handling of the Chalk River fiasco.