Ontario Power Generation

“Tritium exports to the US: Foreign Policy Misstep” – January 8, 2011

A Letter to the Chronicle Herald Editor

Jan. 12, 2011

I was pleased to read Ron Stansfield’s op-ed “Tritium exports to the US: Foreign Policy Misstep” January 8, 2011, regarding a study that will determine whether Canada can play a key role in making North America safer. Public dialogue is important and he raises a number of questions that need to be answered before this moves past the study phase. Ontario Power Generation will only participate in projects that commit to peaceful uses of nuclear material that contribute to public good and would not have participated in this study without assurances that our materials were not to be used for other purposes.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is participating in a study sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. It would be unconscionable for our company not to examine whether we can help protect the public from terrorist attacks by supplying a source of Helium 3.

As Mr. Stansfield points out, there is a shortage of a substance known as Helium 3, which is a key component in large scanners used to detect nuclear weapons in such things as the containers your readers see on a regular basis in Halifax. Helium 3, which is not radioactive, is a decay product of tritium, which is a by product of the nuclear power process. We remove the tritium from our reactors and store it safely and securely in approved canisters on our sites in solid form.

If a decision to proceed is made, it will be subject to approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the appropriate federal government departments on both sides of the border. Since OPG does not operate in Nova Scotia, your readers may not be familiar with our long standing practice and commitment to openness and transparency. We welcome thorough discussion and will make sure the public is kept up to date as this study moves forward.

Bill Robinson
Executive Vice President
Nuclear Refurbishment, Projects & Support