Professional aspects of nuclear safety

Design and operation of nuclear facilities in Ontario are performed by professionals who have more at stake in the nuclear scene than the average resident of the province. Their technical expertise is constantly under scrutiny by their employers, the Atomic Energy Control Board, and the dissenting factions in the community. They and their families live close to nuclear facilities. It is highly unlikely that these professionals would assume a less than cautious approach to their work. The professional staff at both AECL-CANDU Operations and at Ontario Hydro have employee associations that date back many years. The presence of these associations has helped professional employees to divorce their labour-related concerns from their technical responsibilities to the advantage of the public. With the backing of their associations, the professional employees have encouraged the employers to sponsor career development programs to help them maintain state-of-the-art expertise. Employers have sponsored attendance and participation at technical seminars, many of them international. These benefits and privileges have contributed to improved standards in design, but most importantly the protection afforded by collective agreements to professional integrity has permitted engineers and other professionals to insist on the highest possible design standards