PACC Committee Report

This document constitutes the Government of Canada’s response to recommendations #1, #6 and #8 of the Seventeenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Health Canada: Regulatory Regimes of Biologics and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: Power Reactor Regulation, as tabled in the House of Commons on March 12, 2002. The Committee issued the report after considering the December 2000 report of the Auditor General of Canada. Chapters 26 and 27 of the Auditor General’s report dealt with Health Canada’s regulatory regime for biologics and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) regulation of power reactors, respectively.

The Government will be responding to the remainder of the recommendations in accordance with the Standing Orders.

Copies of this publication may be obtained from:

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The Government of Canada has carefully considered the Seventeenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, entitled Health Canada: Regulatory Regime of Biologics and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: Power Reactor Regulation.

On February 6, 2001, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) released its December 2000 report on protecting health and safety. Chapters 26 and 27 of the Auditor General’s report dealt with Health Canada’s regulatory regime for biologics and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) regulation of power reactors, respectively. On May 31, 2001, the Committee heard testimony from witnesses on matters addressed in Chapters 26 and 27 of the OAG’s report.

Of the twelve recommendations contained in the Committee’s report, nine are directed to the CNSC. Of those nine recommendations, the Committee requested responses to recommendations #1, #6 and #8 on or before June 30, 2002. This response meets that request.

With regard to the recruitment and retention of scientific and technical personnel, the Committee noted the difficulties experienced by the CNSC in hiring enough scientific and technological staff. While acknowledging the efforts of the CNSC to resolve the staffing issues, the Committee expressed concern that the CNSC did not have any short-term recruitment strategy to staff the vacancies in the power reactor business line. The Committee therefore requested that the CNSC develop a formal recruitment strategy and action plan to fill these positions and table the strategy and plan with the Committee by June 30, 2002. The Government’s response notes the importance of meeting this challenge for the effective administration of the nuclear regulatory regime, and describes the steps put in place by the CNSC to address this issue.

The Committee also noted improvements were needed in the administration of the nuclear regulatory regime as a result of the lessons learned in the CNSC’s review of the regulatory oversight associated with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s (AECL) design, construction and commissioning of the MAPLE radioisotope production reactors at Chalk River Laboratories. The Committee requested that the CNSC table a copy of the lessons learned report, as well as an action plan and timetable for developing a new set of improved procedures to strengthen nuclear reactor safety regulations, also by June 30, 2002. The Government notes that the CNSC is responsible for the administration of the nuclear regulatory regime, and has taken action to address the lessons learned as a result of this situation. The Government’s response provides a summary of the CNSC’s initiatives.

The Government notes the Committee’s view that it considers it important that the federal government take all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of Canadians and the Committee’s opinion that, to do so, it is essential that regulatory programs be well designed and properly implemented by their respective regulatory authorities. The CNSC provides a strong, effective regulatory regime for the nuclear industry, and with the recent initiatives to respond to the Auditor General’s report, Canadians can be assured that the health and safety of the public and nuclear workers, and the environment, will continue to be protected.

The Government shares the Committee’s view that an effective human resources strategy for recruiting and retaining scientific and technical personnel at the CNSC is important. In response to the report of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG), the CNSC developed an action plan to address human resource management issues. CNSC’s update on the action plan submitted to the Auditor General in February 2002 (Attachment 1) provides details on the steps being taken by the CNSC to address this issue, and the status of those initiatives.

The demographic and attrition analysis and the comprehensive human resources plan have been combined in the CNSC’s Workforce Sustainability Strategy (WSS, Attachment 2), which was approved in principle by CNSC management on March 5, 2002. The WSS provides an analysis of the staffing pressures at the CNSC, and identifies both recruitment initiatives and initiatives to retain staff. The WSS also documents the success realized by the CNSC in recruiting new staff as a result of aggressive recruitment undertaken since the OAG released its report in February 2001.

The Government notes the Committee’s particular concern with respect to a short-term recruitment strategy to staff outstanding vacancies in its power reactor business line. Despite the success in recruiting new staff, as noted above, the CNSC continues to face significant challenges to maintain its expertise in reactor regulation in the face of attrition and competition from the private sector for qualified staff, in particular in the field of nuclear science. To respond to this continuing challenge in the short term, the CNSC is taking action on two fronts, consistent with the Workforce Sustainability Strategy. In May 2002, the CNSC launched a nation-wide external recruitment campaign to fill outstanding vacancies in the Operations Branch, including the Directorate of Power Reactor Regulation. In addition, beginning in Fall 2002, the CNSC will also be actively recruiting at universities to identify candidates for a second intake of interns in 2002-03. Additional initiatives to fill vacancies will depend on the success of these two initiatives.

The CNSC recognizes the value in studying incidents to determine the root causes of the incidents and consequently the "lessons learned." The lessons learned in the commissioning of the MAPLE reactors are contained in the document (CMD 01–M44, Attachment 3) titled "Review of the CNSC Regulatory Oversight of MAPLE Project," which was presented to the Commission at its May 2001 meeting. This CMD presents the CNSC management response to the report of a review of regulatory performance with respect to MAPLE reactor licensing. This CMD describes the subsequent actions taken by the CNSC and includes the Incident Inspection Team’s findings as an attachment.

This recommendation refers to incidents that took place at the MAPLE 1 radioisotope production reactor at the Chalk River Laboratories, which, at the time, was undergoing pre-operational testing. The reactor was in a shut down state during this testing. At no time was the reactor ‘unsafe’. The incidents did not prevent safety systems from performing their intended safety functions nor did they pose a risk to health, public or worker safety, or the environment. Nevertheless, there have been lessons learned for both the CNSC and AECL, which demonstrate the usefulness of undergoing pre-operational testing in the regulatory and licensing process.

The Government notes the Committee’s view and agrees that it is important that the federal government take all necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of Canadians and accepts the Committee’s opinion that, to do so, it is essential that regulatory programs be well designed and properly implemented by the respective regulatory authorities.

In response to the observations and recommendations contained in Chapter 27 of the OAG’s December 2000 report, and in response to the findings of the lessons learned report tabled with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in May 2001, the CNSC has implemented a number of initiatives to strengthen the regulatory regime. The initiatives and their objectives, the status of various actions, and the target completion dates are provided in the "Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Action Plan and Timetable for Development of Procedures to Strengthen the Nuclear Regulatory Regime" (Attachment 4).

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Documentation attached to the original document)