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Duncan Hawthorne, President & CEO of Bruce Power held an open house on Thursday to clarify what had happened when Fukushima Nuclear in Japan was impacted by the recent earthquake and tsunami.

"We've all seen the events that unfolded.  I've been doing interviews everywhere in Canada, the U.S. and Europe," said Hawthorne.   "In a strange way, the biggest groups I have been communicating with is Tokyo, Japan."

According to Hawthorne, there are 54 nuclear plants in Japan.  "There is a very active nuclear program, both now and in the future, because Japan does not have natural resources."

Fukushima was designed to withstand an 8.2 earthquake magnitude.  After the event the plant was virtually untouched however, it was the tsunami that the plant was not prepared for.  After the quake, everything continued working for the first 36 minutes and then the water hit and flooded all the electrical.

"The vital key in a nuclear reactor is to keep the fuel cooled," explained Hawthorne.  "Control, cool and contain is the golden rule."

One of the best things that can happen during an incident is that it is declared an emergency.  "Once you declare and emergency," Hawthorne pointed out, "all the politics go away and that's what drove the evacuation around Fukushima."

He assured the audience that licensing in Canada requires regular testing of equipment.  "We are also a 'remote' site," he explained.  "We have our own fire service, doctors, nurses and security.  We never assume that anyone would be coming to help and, therefore, we are self-sufficient and it avoids a lot of confusion."

Hawthorne also said that the types of fuel used in Fukushima and at the Bruce are different.  "They use enriched fuel and we use natural  Enriched can get critical on its own and managing it is very complex. In natural fuel, there isn't the same amount of energy and management is much less of an issue as it's far less hazardous.  Also, Japan does not have regulatory inspectors on site all the time and we do."

With regard to the proposed new build, he said there are four different designs being considered.  "All the designs are capable of being licensed and I'll make a decision after an assessment that is technology neutral."

Duncan Hawthorne

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Monday, May 09, 2011