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| ar -- co -- pron -- I sc. s------ mn ABI -- --- 14 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 19, 1988 At Pickering Generation Station (From page 12) mize the effects of a mishap. It is called by Hydro "defense-in- depth." Safety systems operate inde- pendently of each other. In the event of an emergency, stainless steel rods suspended and held by electromagnetic clutches, will alu- tomatically drop into the reactor core, to shut down the chain reac- tion of the neutrons. Back-ups in- clude a system fo dumping the heavy water moderator and inject- ing neutron "poison," a liquid which absorbs large numbers of neutrons and slows the chain reac- tion. In the event of a rupture in the cooling systems where steam escapes and builds pressure in the reactor building, relicf valves open and the steam is sucked into a separate vacuum building where the steam is doused to cause con- densation. Throughout our two hour tour of the plant, Jack constantly refers to the safety systems, the mulli- ple barriers to contain radiation in the event of an accident, the in- depth training plant employees, the constant monitoring by the Atomic Energy Control Board which has five inspectors working at the plant, and the fact there has never been a time-loss acicdent in- volving radiation. When I ask the question what would happen in the event of a power failure at the plant, Jack says there are four independent sources of power that can take over in less than two seconds. During our tour of the plant, we stop several times to stand on a machine and insert our hands into sleeves to measure if we have picked up an radiation. We ha- ven't. There are about 1500 people employed at the Pickering plant. Radiation is measured.in units called millirems. A lethal dose is considered 500,000 millirems over a short period of time. The maximum allowed for an employ- ee in a year is 5,000. The average person in Ontario will receive 300 millirems annually from natural radiation and man-made sources. Some of the most often asked questions from visitors at the plant include whether it could ever 'explode" like an atomic bomb. The answer is a definite no. Plutonium, which is used the manufacture of nuclear weapons is produced in a CANDU reactor, a iece about the size of a dime rom each fuel bundle. It is not sold or exported to anyone for weapons. The transportation of tritium has become an issue with anti- nuclear groups. The cannisters used to hold this material can withstand any road hazard, includ- ing a collision with a locomotive at high speeds. Jack said the transportation of tritium became an issue when the Darlington plant near Bowman- ville got the green light from the government. Though he declines to discuss the "politics" of the anti-nuclear movement, the infer- ence is that the various groups are constantly looking for an issue to put in front of the public. Ontario has made a multi- billion dollar commitment to nu- clear power generation. It is 25 per cent cheaper per kilowatt/hour to generate clectricity from nucle- ar than fossile fuels, and the re- duction in the acid gas emissions is substantial. Currently, about 40 per cent of our electrical needs are supplied by nuclear, and that will increase Nuclear Power in our when the Darlington station be- gins operations in a couple of years. The life span of a nuclear station is thought to be about 40 years, but there have been recent suggestions from AECL that the life, with re-fittings, may be as 'high as a century. More perhaps, than any other industry, the nuclear industry in this country is constantly under numerous microscopes; Ao in- ternational and national regulatory agencies, politicians of all stripes and colours, the media, the pub- lic, to any one of several anti- nuclear groups. The accidents, like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island scare all of us and cause the microscopes to be focussed even more sharply on the Canadian industry. Growing up in the shadow of the first experimental reactors in Canada at Chalk River has cer- tainly made me less alarmist gen- erally about nuclear energy. I don't recall any childhood night- mares about an experimental atomic plant just six miles down the Ottawa River. I guess I ac- cepted the fact that the people who worked there, including my own father, knew what they were doing. And basically, I still feel the same way about Pickering, Bruce, and the scon to open Darlington power plants, despite Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the "China Syndrone." There is a degree of risk, a chance of human error, the poten- tial for malfunction in any system designed and built by human That risk factor has to be ac- knowledged and weighed against the long term benefits of generat- ing electricity from the atom. Photos: J. P. Hvidsten A Birdseye view of the Pickering Generating Station from over Lake Ontarlo LA. Sn -- backyard TOP PHOTO: The mas- sive turbine hall contains eight of these glant gen- erators which produce 4320 megawatts of elec- trical power, enough to handle the needs of Me- tro Toronto. BOTTOM RIGHT: Star ed- itor John B. McClelland and Larry Emmerson in- sert their hands Into sen- sitive radiation detecting machines to see if they have picked-up any radi- ation during the tour. Happlly, we can say, they were given a clean bill of health.