The Senate has passed emergency legislation to reopen the Chalk River nuclear reactor, so officials can resume production of medical isotopes.
Health Minister Tony Clement said the decision to restart the Ontario reactor, which produces isotopes needed for diagnostic tests, balances safety issues at the plant with the urgent need for the product.
"In terms of balancing that risk with the risk of cancer patients and heart patients who will not be able to get diagnosis or not be able to get therapy, I think the House of Commons made the right decision and approved the startup of the reactor," Clement said Wednesday.
The legislation allows the plant to restart operations immediately, and was passed with the consent of all parties.
"We intend to make the process fast and make sure that the bill is in place as soon as possible," Liberal Senator Celine Hervieux-Payette said Wednesday before the vote.
MPs approved the legislation in the House of Commons late Tuesday.
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited shut down the plant for scheduled maintenance in November. The closure was then extended when serious safety concerns were discovered by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal watchdog for the industry.
During Tuesday's question period, the Liberals called on the Tories to ask the auditor general to look into why and how the situation deteriorated.
"The government is making sure that the situation gets resolved," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"I can certainly assure the House that when this is all behind us the government will carefully examine the role of all actors in this incident and make sure that accountability is appropriately restored."
The legislation bypasses the nuclear safety watchdog. This allows Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. to restart operation of the reactor for 120 days before closing it down again for repairs and safety upgrades.
The commission made its decisions based on the opinion of scientists and engineers concerned over the system used to cool the reactors, and the possibility of a meltdown in an emergency situation.
Clement said the government expects the plant to once again be producing useable isotopes within six to eight days.
Deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff demanded assurances from the Tories that Canadian medical facilities would be first in line for medical isotopes once they're back in production.
Clement responded that AECL will honour contracts with hospitals and clinics.
The publicly owned reactor, almost 50 years old, supplies more than two-thirds of the world's medical isotopes, which are used to test for cancer, heart problems, and bone ailments.
The reactor was supposed to have been decommissioned in 2005. But a plant designed to replace the aging facility is six years behind schedule and will not produce radioisotopes until late 2008.
Dr. Christopher O'Brien, president of the Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine, told 麻豆影视net that the reactor was working well before it was shut down.
"You have to balance what is the theoretical risk ... as to the immediate risks faced by our patients in emergency rooms and on our (hospital) floors," he said.
Access to nuclear medicine is currently being rationed, he said.
May seeks inquiry
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called for an inquiry into exactly what took place leading up to last night's decision.
She said Harper turned the reactor shutdown into a partisan issue and undermined Canada's nuclear regulator.
"Yesterday in the House, he attacked the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission which is the regulatory body that oversees nuclear safety, referring to them as Liberal appointments and charging the Liberal party was getting in the way of people getting their medical isotopes," May told CTV's Canada AM.
"This was a moment for statesmanship, this is when the prime minister should have called on all parties to work together in the interests of Canadians to protect the supply of radioactive isotopes."
She said the situation sets a dangerous precedent for other Canadian communities that host nuclear reactors.
"These are experts in nuclear safety and the chairperson Linda Keen has now been undercut by the prime minister," May said.
"So the next time Canadians living near a nuclear reactor should be concerned if there's a safety defect in a reactor, AECL is going to thumb their nose at the regulator and know the prime minister is going to come to their defence and blame the regulator?"
