Hearings on restarting Lepreau focus on risk from earthquakes

With the earthquake and tsunami that caused a meltdown at the Fukushima reactors in Japan last March fresh in everyone's minds, the risks posed by possible earthquakes to the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor were among the points pressed by those opposing the restarting of the generating station, during hearings on December 1 and 2 in Saint John. The hearings were held by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) on NB Power's application for a five-year license renewal and authorization to refuel the refurbished reactor, which lies 28 miles from the Eastport/Lubec area, by next fall.
Michel Duguay, director of the Movement for a Nuclear-Free Quebec and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Laval University, noted in his submission to the commission that the serious nuclear accidents at the Fukushima reactors have raised questions about the safe management of reactors. The risk of an accident caused by an earthquake is among the reasons he favors a phasing out of nuclear power in Canada and a switch to renewable energy such as wind and solar.
CNSC staff, though, conclude in one of their submissions to the commission that "adequate measures are already in place for safety and security programs." Concerning earthquake risks, they state that the station is not located in a high hazard seismic region and that there is "a high confidence that a large release of fission products from containment will be prevented with a probability of about one in 100,000 years for an earthquake with a horizontal ground acceleration of as high as 0.4g." That assessment corresponds to an earthquake with a magnitude of about 7B7.5 on the Richter scale located more than 30B35 kilometres from the site, which "is not credible for the tectonic plate of New Brunswick," according to the CNSC staff.
One of the most active areas of recent seismic activity in the Maritimes has been the Oak Bay fault, which is a few miles northeast of St. Stephen and extends southeast along the St. Croix River and continues under the waters of Western Passage and between Eastport and Campobello. In 1904 a quake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale hit the area around Eastport and Pembroke.
However, in a review following the Fukushima accident, a CNSC task force confirmed that the Point Lepreau station "has a strong design relying on multiple layers of defence. The design ensures that there will be no impact on the public from external events that are regarded as credible. The design also offers protection against more severe external events that are much less likely to occur." The task force, though, does recommend certain design enhancements for severe accident management.
A 2010 annual CNSC staff report on safety performance found the Point Lepreau station was satisfactory with the exception of having a "below expectations" rating in emergency management and fire protection. The rating was tied to the station's Emergency Response Team training and performance. Emergency response has been managed by a team of workers who also perform other tasks at the station. To meet the CNSC expectations, NB Power is now recruiting a dedicated, full-time Emergency Response Team. Also, design upgrades have been made to the fire protection system to comply with new requirements.

Other concerns raised
In their comments as intervenors, Larry Lack and Lee Ann Ward of the Atlantic Canada Chapter of the Sierra Club Canada argue that the transcript of the earlier CNSC hearing held in Ottawa on the restart of the station "makes it clear that senior CNSC staff are noticeably predisposed to favour and approve the management approach of NB Power in their evaluations of the safety systems for Lepreau that will be in place if a restart of the refurbished reactor is permitted." They add, "Documented testimony from seismic experts, well-researched questions about the adequacy of security precautions and protections, about the effects of 'normal' and accidental radiation releases on plant personnel and area communities, and efforts to show that Point Lepreau does not and cannot meet new, post-Fukushima international standards for reactor safety C none of these seem to have been considered by CNSC staff. Yet clearly at least some influential senior staff have already made up their minds that NB Power is fully qualified and prepared to safely run the refurbished Lepreau reactor."
As an example of their concerns about safety, they note that NB Power has never included the public in Point Lepreau emergency drills and that none of the interagency drills have taken place at night. Another omission by CNSC staff, they say, is the "failure to explore the abysmal track record of primary Lepreau refurbishment contractor AECL [Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.] over the past decade, when it has failed to satisfactorily accomplish any of the major goals with which it was tasked by the federal government." They note that AECL's failure to adequately prepare the Lepreau reactor's calandria tubes caused many months of delay and hundreds of millions of dollars. They believe AECL's history of failure was one of the reasons that Ontario decided in 2010 not to undertake the proposed refurbishment of the Pickering B reactors.
The refurbishment project had been scheduled to take 18 months and cost $1.4 billion. It is now expected to be finished three years late and $1 billion over budget. However, according to NB Power the project has consistently met a revised schedule for completion of activities. The team completed the 380 fuel channel installations on November 13, ahead of the December scheduled completion date.
Other issues were raised by Chief Hugh Akagi of the Passamaquoddy Nation, who pointed out in his submission that the Passamaquoddy have not given approval for restarting Point Lepreau and that such approval is needed, according to different court decisions. He raised concerns about contamination of the air, lands and waters by the reactor. Fundy Baykeeper Matthew Abbott raised concerns about the possible impact on the marine environment from water flowing into the plant.
Other intervenors, though, offered favourable assessments of the nuclear plant. Ron Mawhinney of Saint John, a commercial fisherman who lives near the plant, commented that the generating station "has for many years been the 'friendly giant' in our community. Its ongoing support of the local schools, senior groups and daily community life is unparalleled. The trust and respect from the surrounding areas for being upfront with timely reporting of all happenings at the station are well deserved and reassuring." In a submission from the Canadian Nuclear Association, President Denise Carpenter stated that the Point Lepreau station has been safely operated for about 28 years and has provided a clean and reliable source of power. Its production of electricity has prevented the emission of about 87 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, she noted.
Concerning the radioactive waste, NB Power has entered into a contract to ship low-level waste to a licensed facility in Bear Creek, Tenn., to incinerate and reduce the volume of the waste. The radioactive ash will then be returned to Point Lepreau for long-term storage. The shipment is scheduled to take place this month, with the route to be through New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario and then into the U.S.
The commission is expected to make a decision on restarting the station within six weeks from the end of the hearings on December 2. If approval is granted and refurbishment is completed next fall, the station is expected to deliver power for the next 25 to 30 years, providing more than one-third on the province's energy requirements.