Bowmanville plant tops among Canadian facilities
Jun 18, 2009 - 03:28 PM
By Jennifer Stone
BOWMANVILLE -- The Darlington nuclear plant has earned a good grade on its annual report card.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission annually publishes a report on the safety performance of Canada's five nuclear plants. The reports are based on information gathered during monitoring, inspections, event reviews, general surveillance, document assessments and performance indicators, said the CNSC report.
All of Canada's nuclear plants made the grade in 2008, with no serious process failures, no workers or members of the public receiving radiation doses above regulatory limits, and no environmental releases above regulatory limits, the report indicates.
The report uses a four-mark grading system: fully satisfactory, satisfactory, below expectations and unacceptable.
Darlington received an over-all integrated plant rating of "fully satisfactory." Only two of the five plants --- Darlington and Bruce --- earned that rating, while the other three, including Pickering, were rated "satisfactory" overall.
Of 21 categories in which Darlington was graded, the plant received 10 "fully satisfactory" marks and 10 "satisfactory" grades.
In the remaining category --- equipment qualification --- Darlington was, according to the CNSC, "below expectations."
That was entirely expected, said Stu Seedhouse, Darlington's senior vice-president. The equipment is the subject of an improvement process which is to be completed by December, 2010. It's on schedule to meet that goal, but until it does, Darlington's mark in that particular area will not move up, Mr. Seedhouse explained.
"It's not a question of safety today," he said. "It's a matter of continuous improvement and increasing margins."
The overall result came as no surprise to Mr. Seedhouse.
"It does reflect the strong performance we've had at Darlington," he said.
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