Nuclear watchdog poised to intervene

Officials of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission told a regular public meeting that contingency plans are being drawn up based on emergency provisions in the federal nuclear control law.

An emergency provision of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act says the regulator may "make any order that it considers necessary to protect the environment or the health and safety of persons or to maintain national security."

"We're looking at measures that are available to us for continued safe operations and to deal with emergencies," said Paul Webster, acting chief of power reaction regulation. Asked for details, he gave none.

Commission staff cited recent picketing during a Darlington nuclear plant shift change that backed up traffic at its gate for several kilometres.

Emergency vehicles would have had "considerable difficulty" reaching the station's four Candu reactors if something had gone wrong, said Garry Schwarz, the commission official who oversees Darlington.

The pickets belong to the Society of Energy Professionals at Hydro One, Ontario's energy distributor. Unionized nuclear plant staff are not on strike.