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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 18 U 1 TOWN MANAGER 1 RECEIVED APR z 5 1996 MINUTES FILE NO. OF THE MEETING OF FR .E THE PICKERING/ONTARIO HYDRO LIAISO. -COMM-1.1 VV'6/LAP TO: HELD ON THURSDAY,APRIL 18, i996)R^ COUNCIL AT 7:30 P.M. � EC. EXUR.OPNS CLERK --- ----- CUL.&REC. PLANNING IN THE MAIN COMMITTEE ROOMS CHIEF TREASURER PICKERING CIVIC COMPLEXP ARKS& FAC. SOLICITOR PU6LIC WORKS MGR. -HR. TRANSIT EMPL. EQUITY LPEI1ARY H.R SAFETY I rRCiR. lc., SECON. DEV. Present: Mayor Wayne Arthurs, Committee Chair Councillor Sherry Senis, Vice Chair Helen Break, Representative of the General Public Evans Enyolu, Representative of PACT Pierre Charlebois, Station Director, PNGS Ross Fitchett, Public Affairs, PNGS Bud Wood ine, Acting Manager, Cherrywood District C.M. Timothy Sheffield, Town Manager Bruce Taylor, Town Clerk • Also Present: Irene Kock, observer from Durham Nuclear Awareness Dave Walsh, Ontario Hydro Emergency Planner Jay Amer, Ontario Hydro Public Affairs Eva Marczak, Ontario Hydro Nuclear Safety • Mark Rohlehr, observer from the Durham Nuclear Health Committee 1. Adoption of Minutes • The Minutes of the Meeting of the Pickering/Ontario Hydro Liaison Committee held on Thursday, February 15, 1996 were adopted with the notation that Helen Break's name is spelled incorrectly. . 2. Presentations from the Public Mark Rohlehr gave an overview of the mandate of the Durham Nuclear Health Committee. He stressed that the members of this Committee are still learning about the broad specter of nuclear health. • • . ..../2 - - 2 - 3. Mandate of the Committee Helen Break stated that the Terms of Reference of the Committee should be clarified and gave the following examples: 1. Does the term"Town"mean the Council, the administration or the public? 2. How and when would the "documentation of issues and concerns"happen and what format would this documentation take? 3. What body is this Committee proposing solutions or suggestions to? Evans Enyolu stated that in order for this Committee to avoid becoming a public relations tool, we should get independent opinions on material that is presented by Ontario Hydro. Pierre Charlebois stated that he is also concerned that Ontario Hydro does not provide all the information to this Committee because this Committee is meant to be a nuclear safety network. He will provide a list of people and organizations that oversee nuclear programs. Tim Sheffield stated that if the liaison is between Ontario Hydro and the community, the community must be represented by Council with the assistance of the community members. He further explained his rationale in preparing the Terms of Reference. Mayor Arthurs stated that the documentation of concerns would be through the Minutes or through reports on specific issues. Helen Break asked how Council will relay information to the public and if it is even obliged to relay any information. • • 4. Re-Licensing of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station Eva Marczak, Ontario Hydro Nuclear Safety, gave an overview of the procedures to be followed in 1996 for the re-licensing of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. As part of this overview, she explained the structure of the Atomic Energy Control Board, noted that the AECB has ten permanent staff at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and that the November meeting of the AECB to decide of the re-licensing will hopefully be held in Oshawa. ..../3 3 - - A question was asked if the AECB staff are rotated in order for them to remain objective and the response was that there is some rotation of AECB staff from ordinary movement of staff due to vacancies and that the Senior Project Manager seems to be rotated more frequently, however, the representatives of Ontario Hydro were not aware that there was a policy of frequent rotation of staff. A further question was asked if the AECB can give a conditional licence and the response was that the AECB can put any conditions in a licence or just impose a direction at any time. It was noted that the AECB staff have authority to make directives as strict as shutting down the plant. A further question was asked if the orders of the AECB staff are appealable. The response was that yes, such directives can be appealed to the AECB, however, the directive must be followed until a final decision is made by the Board. 5. Final Report on Exercise "Pickering 95" Mayor Arthurs directed that staff continue to invite Tom James, Emergency Measures Officer for the Region of Durham, to attend the next meeting of this Committee. Tim Sheffield stated that the Final Report on Exercise "Pickering 95" does not address the Town's needs or answer the Town's questions to the extent we would desire but he hopes to have a meeting with Tom James and include other interested parties such as the Town of Ajax in the near future. Pierre Charlebois reported that emergency exercises are held frequently at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and the Town could participate in some of these exercises which would help people learn their roles better. Mayor Arthurs noted that there is still some work to be done on the exchange of Y g information and the answer to questions from Provincial officials. ...J4 - - 4 - - 6. Letter from Durham Nuclear Awareness regarding Future Topics for Discussion The letter from Durham Nuclear Awareness dated March 4, 1996 making suggestions for topics that could be reviewed at future meetings of the Committee was discussed. A sub-committee comprised of Councillor Sherry Senis, Helen Break, Evans Enyolu and Ross Fitchett was established to prepare a list of issues to be addressed by this Committee. 7. Letter from Dr.R.J. Kyle, Durham Nuclear Health Committee The letter from Dr. R.J. Kyle, Chair, Durham Nuclear Health Committee, dated April 2, 1996 agreeing to exchange Minutes and Agendas and reporting that Mark Rohlehr and alternatively, Laurie Mackenzie, have agreed to attend meetings of this Committee as an observer was received. 8. Overview of Tritium Leak at Pickering Nuclear Generating Station on April 15th Pierre Charlebois gave an overview of the sequence of events respecting the tritium leak at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station on April 15, 1996. The incident happened at Unit 4 which was shut down at the time but was being prepared for start up. At 9:41 p.m., a tritium monitor announced that there was an alert. Lab reports indicated high tritium levels in Unit 4 and a leak search was initiated. The Shift Supervisor referred to the emergency procedures and at 11:50 p.m. the cooling systems of Units 2 and 4 were shut down. On April 16th, between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., the engineering staff rechecked the calculations of the staff from the previous shift. There was no change in the tritium levels but the manual referred to specified a lower threshold for notification and the decision to notify specified parties was made and a news release was sent out around dinnertime. The leak was isolated and the sampling and monitoring of the water supply plants is still in progress. The leak failure mechanism is yet to be determined and minor procedural discrepancies are to be addressed. ..../5 - - 5 - - The Province was monitoring the situation at the water treatment plants in order to advise the Medical Officer of Health. The allowable level of tritium in the drinking water was lowered in 1995 from 40,000 becquerels per litre to 7,000 becquerels per litre and the tritium level reached in this incident was 0.075% of what is allowable in a month. The levels of tritium measured to not pose any threat to the public health nor are they anticipated to do so. The peak concentration from this incident was at the Ajax Water Plant where 831 becquerels per litre was reached. Pierre Charlebois stated that notification to the Town should have been made earlier and will be made earlier if there is a similar incident in the future. Sherry Senis stated that she first heard about the incident on the radio where the residents were advised not to drink the water. As of today, Pickering residents have not been advised that the water is safe to drink. A press release must be given to notify people that the water is safe to drink. Pierre Charlebois responded that the reporting of the incident by Ontario Hydro must be improved, however, the pronouncement that the water is safe to drink must come from the Medical Officer of Health. Pierre Charlebois further responded that this Committee should work closely with the Durham Nuclear Health Committee and that he spoke with the Regional Chairman who suggested that there be a post mortem on this incident that would include various interested parties. Evans Enyolu asked if the tritium level was such that people could be made sick. Pierre Charlebois responded that the tritium level could not make people sick and that a public education program be developed to educate the public on tritium. Mark Rohlehr also suggested that there be an immediate response to the public to educate them of what was involved in this incident. Mayor Arthurs noted that there is consistent information that can be communicated to the public. He further noted that the Town was not given a lot of advice on who to contact for further information. Pierre Charlebois stated that this Committee should ask the Durham Nuclear Health Committee what is the process for notifying the residents in the Region and what is being said in this notification process. Ross Fitchett distributed a copy of the Health Unit's press release dated April 18th on this incident. Helen Break suggested that the press release be corrected to show that the water supply in Pickering, as well as other communities, is safe to drink. ..../6 car0J 1/4 6 - Ross Fitchett agreed that notifications in the future should be marked `urgent" if notifying of an incident and that voice contact be made with the Town to advise of the incident. Ross Fitchett asked Mayor Arthurs if he had any further concerns about the incident and the Mayor responded that although he understands that the staff at the Nuclear Generating Station were under a lot of constraints, it is vital that key people get notified of an incident or emergency and that the Town be notified earlier of an incident. Helen Break asked if the Town was low on the list to be notified because this was presumably a low level incident and would the notification change if the incident was more urgent. Dave Walsh responded that the order to notify is the same regardless of the nature of the incident and the protocol of orders are carefully documented and approved. Evans Enyolu inquired into the possibility of a reoccurrence of this incident and asked how it relates to past events. Pierre Charlebois responded that the cause of this incident has not yet been identified but when it is, the problem will be corrected in all units. There may be more events of a similar nature, however, hopefully they will be kept at a low level. t Ross Fitchett asked the Town representatives if the information received from Ontario Hydro about the incident was useful and it was generally felt that the information was useful but somewhat scientific. Mark Rohlehr noted that the Region of Durham was also not informing the Town on such matters as the shutting down of the Ajax Water Treatment Plant. Helen Break asked what was resolved as a result of this discussion and it was responded that The Regional Chairman is calling a meeting to resolve the notification situation and Mark Rohlehr will give a report to the Durham Nuclear Health Committee on what transpired at this meeting and ask Dr. Kyle and Mr. McCorkell to develop a protocol that will include the Town. Councillor Senis asked if there is a date for Unit 2 to start up and Pierre Charlebois responded that it was operating at 60% use and being monitored, however, it has been shut down again and will have to be readied to start up again. ..../7 Councillor Senis also asked about the status of the Power Workers Union and Pierre Charlebois responded that the contract has been extended to June 1, 1996 and that the Nuclear Generating Station has plans to shut down if a potential walkout exists. In the event of a shut down, power would be supplied to the Nuclear Generating Station and the local community. Bud Wood ine stated that the grid is prepared for any kind of labour disruption. 9. Date of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Thursday, June 20, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Committee Room at the Pickering Civic Complex. 10. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10:25 p.m.