Decommissioning SLOWPOKE

Is it a good thing when you hold a public meeting and hardly anyone comes? Perhaps it is if it suggests that people have confidence in a process and comfort in knowing a job is being done right.

Yesterday, August 4th, a well-publicized meeting called to answer questions community members might have about the decommissioning of Dalhousie's SLOWPOKE reactor attracted one parent and her two home-schooled students.

The folks in the room there to answer the questions outnumbered those in the audience. In addition to Dal's safety director, Ray Ilson, and Ken Burt, Vice President Finance, the panel included Don Howard and Bob Barker from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and Doug Benton and Shahzad Alim from the Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL). The meeting ended up a short one after a handful of basic operational questions from the small group in attendance.

"They had an interest in the subject and appreciated the information," says Mr. Ilson. "They offered a few general questions but appeared very satisfied that the process was being well managed. The low attendance at this open public meeting appears to reflect the lack of public concern with the decommissioning of the SLOWPOKE Facility."

It's not the first time the public has offered a bit of a yawn at SLOWPOKE information. At a community meeting in January, there was a grand total of one question from the audience about the future of the research.

"I think it's partly the result of the fact that we've reached out repeatedly to the community, including sessions with members of the Dal community and first responders," adds Mr. Ilson. "On a project like this we want to make sure that we're totally transparent and provide as many opportunities to ask questions as possible. It seems that our neighbours are satisfied with the information we've provided."

The SLOWPOKE (which stands for Safe LOW POwer Critical Experiment) reactor was designed for neutron-activation analysis and installed in 1976.