John Spears
Toronto Star
November 21, 2003

Canada’s nuclear regulator was left in the dark along with Ontario and the northeastern United States when the Aug. 14 blackout struck, according to a detailed report on the power failure.

A joint U.S.-Canadian task force headed by Canada’s natural resources minister Herb Dhaliwal and U.S. energy secretary Spencer Abraham found the lights went out on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, though luckily no harm was done.

"CNSC staff was unable to immediately activate the CNSC’s Emergency Operations Centre because of a loss of power to the CNSC’s head office building," the task force said.

The CNSC oversees the operation of Canada’s nuclear generating stations and may be called to give station operators clearance to take action during an emergency.

No harm was done despite the glitch, the report notes, as required approvals were obtained quickly.

But CNSC staff had to find other locations from which to contact nuclear stations and American regulators so they could co-ordinate efforts.

The note in the task force report raised the eyebrow of Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe.

"The report seems to suggest the CNSC could have been impaired in its ability to respond," Adams said.

For the most part, the report deals kindly with the performance of Ontario’s nuclear plants.

"There were no risks to the health and safety of workers or the public as a result of the concurrent shutdown of several reactors," the task force says.

"Automatic safety systems for the turbine generators and reactors worked as designed."

Michel Cléroux, a spokesperson for the commission, acknowledged the blackout knocked out communications and staff had to rely on cellphones in the wake of the power outage.

A small emergency generator, large enough to run critical communications systems, was set up by the next day, but at that point power had been restored to the CNSC building, he said.

The commission rents office space in a privately owned building.

A permanent back-up generator big enough to run all communications systems and provide air conditioning for several floors will be installed at the building in coming months, Cléroux said.

In the meantime, steps have been taken to set up an emergency room in a building across the street that has back-up power.

Adams said he was struck by how routine the incidents were that triggered the blackout – wires touching trees were the immediate cause of the line failures that snowballed into the blackout.

The weather was hot but not abnormal for August.

The mundane nature of the incidents and the severe consequences suggest power systems should be made sturdier, Adams said.

The task force is inviting public comment on its interim report, and will holding public hearings in Toronto Dec. 8.