The Environmental Law Association says it may take the Canadian government to federal court once again due to the content of an anonymous letter sent to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
The letter, which was also sent to Greenpeace Canada and the Environmental Law Association weeks ago, expresses concern that nuclear safety commissioners “do not receive sufficient information to make balanced judgments” when granting licenses to create nuclear plants.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is supposed to act as a watchdog on the nuclear power industry.
But after the Harper government replaced then-president Linda Keen with Michael Binder in 2008, critics say that the commission is more like a lapdog, hastily approving licenses without thorough environmental assessments for the sake of bolstering nuclear power.
The letter highlighted Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Bowmanville, Ont., whose construction license has been at the centre of many disputes between environmental groups and the government.
“The cases are very specific,” said executive director of the Environmental Law Association Theresa McClenaghan. “The letter could only be from someone who is familiar with everything.”
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is now conducting an investigation into the allegations made in the letter.
“As an independent agency, it is up to (the commission) to create specific plans to analyze the recommendations in this letter and take action,” said Department of Natural Resources media relations officer Tania Carreira Pereira.
But the Environmental Law Association could take it one step further by asking the federal court to revoke the construction license for the Darlington nuclear power plant.
Darlington and court challenges: a timeline
Click through the timeline below to see the story of Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, one of the cases highlighted in the letter, and the legal disputes between environmental groups and the government.
Taking immediate action
In the meantime, the commission will hold a public hearing on Aug. 17-18 in Ottawa about the nuclear safety assessments conducted in 2015.
Greenpeace will be there to present its comments on the annual oversight report prepared by the commission. Senior Energy Analyst with Greenpeace Canada Shawn-Patrick Stensil also provided the letter as an annex to the oversight report to make sure that everyone gets a look.
“I did this because the (oversight) report has been provided to Binder — and management,” he said in an email interview. “But not the independent commissioners.”
Commission members develop regulations under the direction of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act as well as function as a quasi-judicial administrative body for licensing decisions.
Greenpeace, the Environmental Law Association, and other groups wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March urging for a review of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act “in light of the lack of institutional independence of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.”
The letter may hopefully hasten this process, Stensil said.
“The government originally brushed us off but it seems there was a crack.”