COM 0212.068 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

uuear aunset: economic Costs of the Canadian Nuclear industry http;//w~aU~.ccnr.org/sunsetl.html Nordion. The US Depa. .ent of Energy plans to produce eu~ugh Moly-99 for 70% of the US market by making an $ ll million upgrade on a 4-MW reactor at the Sandia National Laboratories. [151] In addition, the Mallinckrodt Medical pharmaceutical company has been licensed to upgrade a 45 MW reactor in the Netherlands in order to meet about 25% of world demand for Moly-99. [152] Mallinckrodt is presently one of Nordion's ]argest customers; and in about two years, it will become a competitor. [153] AECL and federal taxpayers are in a no-win situation. In addition to the construction of a MAPLE-X 10 reactor, AECL is also considering an even more expensive proposal the Irradiation Research Facility (IRF) was estimated to cost about $500 million. [154] Thus the cost of the new radioisotope reactors will be at ]east $600 million. The government seems set to approve a resolution of the MDS/Nordion dispute with AECL in which taxpayers will again have to subsidize new reactors. It seems likely that Ivff)S/Nordion a private corporation will be at least a partial beneficiary of this subsidy. Nordion has suggested that it will pay for a share of the construction costs through a 40% increase in the price of the Moly-99 that it sells. [155] However, this move would be risky, as it will be facing sales competition, for Moly-99 in the near future. In the long-term, Canadian taxpayers will again be left with the high cost of managing the radioactive high level liquid waste from the production process, as well as a greater share of reactor construction costs. if MDS/Nordion's revenues from Moly-99 decline. 5. AECL's Decommissioning Liability In AECL annual reports for 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, and 1994-95 the Auditor General of Canada has strongly criticized Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. for failing to account properly for the cost of "decommissioning". Decommissioning activities include dismantling radioactive structures such as old reactors; cleaning up radioactively contaminated sites; managing the associated radioactive wastes; disposing of radioactively contaminated equipment; and returning sites to "green field" condition. AECL's past and current practice for the financing of decommissioning costs has simply been to send the bill to the taxpayers each year for expenses as they are incurred. As the Auditor General has pointed out, this is not a proper financial planning or accounting process. In his report to the Minister of Energy Mines and Resources in the AECL 1991-1992 Annual Report. Auditor General Denis Desautels stated, ,r ~a 01/08/97 2221:47