Chalk River reactor down until spring
CHALK RIVER, ONTARIO - Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says its aging nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont., won't be back up and running until the spring of 2010.
In a statement, AECL says a detailed analysis has found nine sites at the reactor needing repair.
AECL says the repairs are not a public safety issue, adding there is no threat to workers on site or the environment.
Meantime, the ministers of health and natural resources issued a joint statement saying they're disappointed the Chalk River facility won't be back online until the first quarter of 2010.
Leona Aglukkaq and Lisa Raitt say in the statement that Ottawa is working with the provinces, territories, the medical community and international partners to address Canadian medical isotope needs during this outage.
Doctors have scrambled to make do with an erratic supply of isotopes since AECL powered down Chalk River in May after finding a leak of radioactive water.
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Customers on the hook for $5.5 billion in deferred BC Hydro operating costs: report
VICTORIA - Auditor General Carol Bellringer says BC Hydro has deferred $5.5 billion in expenses that it plans to recover from ratepayers in the future.
Bellringer focuses on the deferred expenses in a report on the public utility's use of rate-regulated accounting to control the prices it charges customers.
"As of March 31, 2018, BC Hydro reported a total net regulatory asset of $5.455 billion, which is what ratepayers owe," says the report. "BC Hydro expects to recover this from ratepayers in the future. For BC Hydro, this is an asset. For ratepayers, this is a debt."
She says rate-regulated…
