Unclear allegiance
Jan. 27th, 2008 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ewtSo. There's a nuclear reactor at Chalk River, near-ish Ottawa (200km away, which is near-ish by Canajan standards). One of the things it produces is high-grade medical isotopes.
It was in breach of some safety regulations. It shut down for maintenance, and Linda Keen, head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, told it to STAY shut down until the other stuff was sorted. This caused some problems.
Now she's been sacked, and the media are portraying this as being because shutting down the reactor endangered lives due to the resulting shortage of certain isotopes.
This is a load of codswallop. Yes, there was a shortage for a bit, but other reactors around the world adapted and started making more of those isotopes.
I propose that Linda Keen hasn't been sacked because of the medical isotopes shortage, she's been sacked because of the resulting loss of economic monopoly on those isotopes. I mean, we don't give the damn things away for free, folks.
Discuss.
It was in breach of some safety regulations. It shut down for maintenance, and Linda Keen, head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, told it to STAY shut down until the other stuff was sorted. This caused some problems.
Now she's been sacked, and the media are portraying this as being because shutting down the reactor endangered lives due to the resulting shortage of certain isotopes.
This is a load of codswallop. Yes, there was a shortage for a bit, but other reactors around the world adapted and started making more of those isotopes.
I propose that Linda Keen hasn't been sacked because of the medical isotopes shortage, she's been sacked because of the resulting loss of economic monopoly on those isotopes. I mean, we don't give the damn things away for free, folks.
Discuss.
Dismissal of Nuclear Safety Commission Chairman
Date: 2008-02-01 02:13 am (UTC)Clearly she precipitated a world wide shortage of nuclear medical isotopes whihc like a series of dominoes set her job at risk.
If someone in our family needed those isotopes I wonder if the story would be different.
There are no Canadian laws setting the standard - she brought in international standards and made her decisions on standards which do not have any jurisdiction in Canada
We have not heard the end of this one for sure.
Bert