Ontario Power Generation

Update on the Darlington Water Release

A message to the community from Senior Vice President Stu Seedhouse

Jan. 6, 2010
Every quarter, Ontario Power Generation reports to you about our nuclear station performance. We do this reporting as part of our commitment to keep our neighbours, and the public informed on our operations.

Darlington Nuclear has earned a strong safety and performance record over years of operation, recognized internationally as well as here in Canada. We are proud of this record.

On Dec. 21, Darlington had an event, which resulted in a storage tank, being over-filled with lake water. The tank already contained purified (demineralized) water. This resulted in an overflow of about 210,000 litres of water to the environment.

The water release occurred over a matter of a few minutes and was quickly identified and stopped. We immediately took conservative precautions including informing the Region of Durham, which operates Durham’s water supply plants; the Durham Medical Officer of Health; as well as officials in neighbouring municipalities. An immediate site clean up and investigation began to confirm the extent of the impact.

While the water released to the environment contained low levels of tritium and hydrazine, it had no measurable impact on local drinking water. However, the fact this occurred is significant to me.

Durham Region is my home. I work and live here with my family. Like you, I care deeply about the well-being of our community. I am sorry if news of this event caused you unnecessary concern.

Darlington’s safety record is well recognized as one of the strongest in the electricity industry. We continue to be committed to excellence in operational safety performance. But when we do make a mistake, you can feel confident we will do the right thing to ensure all precautions are taken and all information is shared, just as we did here.

We understand what happened in this event and we will ensure it is not repeated.

Additional information about the event as well as information about tritium in the environment and our press releases can be found on our website. If you have any questions, I invite you to call our Public Information Centre at 1-800-461-0034.

For information about the Region of Durham’s water sampling program, call the Region of Durham’s Works Department, Technical Support Division at 1-800-372-1102. The Region’s website also has information on tritium; please visit the Facts About Tritium page or the Durham Nuclear Health Committee section of the website (also accessible from www.region.durham.on.ca).

Stu Seedhouse
Senior Vice President
Darlington Nuclear

Our public information line is available to answer questions on the Dec. 21 Darlington water release.

• 1-800-461-0034