Cameco accident fodder for opponents
Five employees at the Cameco plant in Port Hope received treatment after an accident where hydrogen fluoride was released Monday.
During the ongoing decontamination of historic equipment inherited from the company's predecessor, Eldorado Gold Mines, who started a radium refinery at the current location, a wisp of smoke from a four-foot section of metal piping while they were cutting through a pipe joint. The two operators, who were working on the pipe immediately erred on the side of caution and reported the incident, according to media reports.
The plant's emergency response team came to the scene, where the pipe was removed and taken to the area where UF6 (urnanium hexafluouride) is processed and it could be handled for further testing.
The incident took place in one of the larger, older buildings and officials say the exposure was minor. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Ministry of Environment were notified.
Without question, this incident will be a spark for the Families Against Radiation Exposure (FARE) will have a heyday with this. The group has consistently fought against the company's safety practices and was successful in opposing an expansion of the plants capacity to undertake an SEU (slightly enriched uranium) project.
This comes at a time when Cameco is working hard to develop its long term plans and community consultations are ongoing. The FARE opposition to the SEU project deeply divided the community. There was some bad blood and this incident will certainly fuel the opponent's arguments that Cameco is unsafe, despite the fact that it is being called minor.
Watch for key community leaders and some politicians to jump on this one. In particular, Councillor John Morand, a long time opponent and former deputy mayor, now council candidate, John Floyd. Pat McNamara will be before council within a week. And, the letters to the editor will flow like Niagara Falls.
While Cameco is successful in controlling the media spin today, it will be interesting to watch how long it will be able to hold on to the agenda.
During the ongoing decontamination of historic equipment inherited from the company's predecessor, Eldorado Gold Mines, who started a radium refinery at the current location, a wisp of smoke from a four-foot section of metal piping while they were cutting through a pipe joint. The two operators, who were working on the pipe immediately erred on the side of caution and reported the incident, according to media reports.
The plant's emergency response team came to the scene, where the pipe was removed and taken to the area where UF6 (urnanium hexafluouride) is processed and it could be handled for further testing.
The incident took place in one of the larger, older buildings and officials say the exposure was minor. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Ministry of Environment were notified.
Without question, this incident will be a spark for the Families Against Radiation Exposure (FARE) will have a heyday with this. The group has consistently fought against the company's safety practices and was successful in opposing an expansion of the plants capacity to undertake an SEU (slightly enriched uranium) project.
This comes at a time when Cameco is working hard to develop its long term plans and community consultations are ongoing. The FARE opposition to the SEU project deeply divided the community. There was some bad blood and this incident will certainly fuel the opponent's arguments that Cameco is unsafe, despite the fact that it is being called minor.
Watch for key community leaders and some politicians to jump on this one. In particular, Councillor John Morand, a long time opponent and former deputy mayor, now council candidate, John Floyd. Pat McNamara will be before council within a week. And, the letters to the editor will flow like Niagara Falls.
While Cameco is successful in controlling the media spin today, it will be interesting to watch how long it will be able to hold on to the agenda.
posted by Robert Washburn at
2:58 PM
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