Stick to the facts about Lepreau

 

Dear Editor,

 

Contrary to what Larry Lack states in his letter (It’s time to shut Lepreau, Sept. 13) no one is determined to sidestep the risks involved in generating nuclear power.  Personally I have expressed the actual risks involved several times.  What I, or any other pro nuclear person, will insist upon is that the risks that are present be discussed in a factual manner.  Mr. Lack has once again failed to do so.  The safety systems in the CANDU system are fast acting and automatic.  They use multiply redundant logic hooked up to two independent digital computers.  Although this fact (and others) ensures the possibility of an accident are as close to zero as can be, Mr. Lack can rest assured that he is not the only one to “think the unthinkable”.  As part of the CANDU design, multiple levels of containment are employed to ensure that any postulated harmful release does not escape into the environment.  This is capped off by an airtight building with reinforced concrete walls some 5 feet thick attached to a steel shell.

 

As for equipment wearing out he also need not worry.  Safety equipment in a nuclear plant is quite often safety specific. Furthermore, every single component that is involved with safety must undergo rigorous qualification testing to ensure that even if an accident were to happen the day before plant closure it would still work.  Combined with extensive fitness for service procedures the plant is kept in a safe condition at all times.

 

I do find it commendable that Mr. Lack is committed to conservation.  I am as well, even though those new eleven watt fluorescent bulbs put quite a hole in my wallet!  The point is that conservation will not stop energy demand from growing higher.  It can slow the process down but it cannot work miracles and more importantly it can’t disregard the laws of thermodynamics.

 

No one is skirting the responsibility of Nuclear Safety.  To see that one needs to go beyond the doomsday scenarios and check out the facts behind how Point Lepreau was designed, built, and is operated:  with safety as the number one priority.

 

Andrew Daley