A radioactive spill has occurred at the aging Chalk River nuclear reactor west of the nation's capital after the facility was recently cranked up to double its normal output of medical isotopes, used in diagnosing and treating cancer, Sun Media has learned. The reactor is supplying up to 70% of the world's medical isotopes.
But the radioactive spill and another ongoing leak at the reactor are bound to spark renewedcontroversy over the safety of the nuclear facility built in 1958.
An internal report to federal nuclear regulators shows radioactive tritium was released into the air during the incident at the Chalk River reactor on Dec. 5.
Atomic Energy of Canada officials running the 51-year-old apparently defective reactor reported they managed to contain another 800 litres of contaminated water now being stored in special drums.
The report alleges there was no threat to the health of workers at the reactor, and officials say the tritium released into the air posed no significant danger to the surrounding environment.
Nonetheless, after a brief shutdown, the reactor has continued to operate at full power, even though Chalk River officials admit they don't know what caused the leak, and say it could happen again.
Documents indicate officials at Atomic Energy took four days to report the spill to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Even then, the spill proved to be five times larger than what the officials initially reported.
A press release about the brief shutdown of the reactor in December made no mention of a spill, only "unanticipated technical challenges."
Radioactive water leak in the human drinking supply of water
Meanwhile, another part of the reactor has sprung a water leak from a 2.4-inch crack in a weld. That leak has not been repaired since it was first reported more than six weeks ago. Instead, technicians are simply pumping water into the unit to replace the estimated 7,000 litres a day spewing from the cracked seam.
In answer to written questions from Sun Media, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said the leaking water from the failed weld has "a very low level of radioactivity" and is not a safety concern.
The water is being dumped into the Ottawa River.
As the Sierra Club documents, since its creation in 1944 as part of the allied war effort to develop the atomic bomb, Chalk River Laboratories has become Canada’s most contaminated nuclear site, threatening the drinking water of millions of Canadians living downstream, including the residents of the nation’s capital, Ottawa.
