Industry captured regulator: The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, according to York University Environmental Studies Professor Mark Winfield is "The poster child for an industry captured regulator."

According to Winfield, there is a revolving door between industry and the regulator, and they are not known to have ever said no to the industry, with the exception of past CNSC president Linda Keen, who was promptly fired after raising concerns about the safety of a nuclear reactor. 

Mike Layton, a Toronto City Councillor and member of the Board of Health says he has "huge concerns that the regulator is also the promoter of this, when an industry is its own regulator that is cause for concern."

In the above photo by Bob del Tredici the person on the right is Rumina Velshi, CEO and President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.  For seven years before the CNSC Velshi was Director of Planning and Control for the Darlington New Nuclear Project. 

According to Velshi, the "bigger concern" than uranium inhalation for the people of Davenport is the psychological impacts that result from worrying about low-level radiation, "Everyone has a duty to allay these unfounded concerns," said Velshi.  

The BWXT uranium fuel fabricating plant at 1025 Lansdowne processes half of all uranium used in Canada's reactors.  

According to their self-reported estimates in the 2018 Annual Compliance Report, the company has dosed the Toronto public, claiming to have released 46.2 grams of uranium into the air, and 3.62 kilograms of uranium in the water over the past five years.

The problem is that they use filters to catch as much uranium dust before leaving the plant as possible - this means that only the finest particles are escaping 24/7.  The finer the particle the easier it is if inhaled to lodge in the lungs or be carried in the blood stream to the kidney, bones, and brain.  This is how you can get cancer from living near the plant.

There are billions of particles in every gram of uranium released by BWXT Toronto, all it takes is inhaling one particle of alpha emitting uranium to potentially cause serious long term illness.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) website and many of their presentations boldly assure Canadians that they will ”Never Compromise Safety”. 

The results of a recently conducted survey done for the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), by the Environics Research Group, for their “Big Chill” survey on the muzzling of federal scientists suggests that these are false assurances.

The survey paints a very worrisome picture at the CNSC. The survey shows:
-57% of the CNSC employee’s surveyed said they were aware of cases where the health and safety of Canadians (or environmental sustainability) has been compromised due to political interference.
-50% of the CNSC employee’s surveyed didn’t feel they could publish their work in peer-reviewed journals.
-94% of the CNSC employee’s reported interference with manuscripts and or conference presentations.
-The CNSC was among the groups most likely to be asked to exclude/alter information in Federal government documents for non scientific reasons.-93% of the CNSC employee’s surveyed agreed that the public would be better served if the federal government strengthened its “whistleblower” protection. 

For your health and safety the BWXT uranium fabrication plant must SHUT DOWN.   

The CNSC is like the National Energy Board (NEB) which continues to approve pipeline projects in Canada notwithstanding the established science that continued fossil fuel expansion negatively impacts the climate.  Therefore the government of Canada is not a credible regulator when it comes to energy and the environment.  We are in an ecological crisis and the regulatory bodies tasked with public safety are not up to the job because they will always ignore public safety in favour of the financial interests of industry.  

So far your political representatives are content to allow the CNSC to make a decision on what is best for your community.  Not John Tory, nor Julie Dzerowicz, nor Marit Stiles, nor Ana Bailao has called for the uranium pollution in Toronto to stop.  

It is up to you to contact them to tell them to make your health and safety their priority.  If you don't hear or see these words "shut it down" from them, then ask who they are truly serving.  

Get involved! 

Contact

MP Julie Dzerowicz
Julie.Dzerowicz@parl.gc.ca

MPP Marit Stiles 

MStiles-CO@ndp.on.ca

Councillor Ana Bailao
councillor_bailao@toronto.ca

Tell them you expect them to listen to you and to loudly declare they do not support a ten year licence renewal for BWXT Toronto at 1025 Lansdowne.