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OTTAWA -- The federal government says no radioactive material from a recent leak at the Chalk River nuclear research facility made its way into the Ottawa River.
"The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has assured me there is no leak into the Ottawa River," Lisa Raitt, minister of Natural Resources told MPs in the Commons.
"But I still asked for a report from the officials in my department, as well as the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, to get to the bottom of this."
Raitt said she was aware there was an incident at the facility west of the capital but didn't learn the full details until Sun Media revealed them earlier this week.
An internal report to the CNSC indicated radioactive tritium was released into the air during the incident on Dec. 5 and radioactive water escaped a containment area.
STORED IN CONTAINERS
Atomic Energy of Canada, the Crown corporation which runs the 51-year-old reactor at Chalk River, reported it managed to capture 800 litres of contaminated water.
The report says the water is being stored in special containers at the site and there is no threat to the health of workers. Officials say the tritium released into the air also posed no danger to the environment.
The NRU reactor supplies 70% of the world's medical isotopes, used in scans for cancer and heart disease. A shutdown could leave millions of patients in Canada and around the globe stranded.
The Sierra Club of Canada is calling for a full public investigation into the matter.
"Radioactive pollution from nuclear reactors poses a serious threat to our health and the environment and it is clear that the public is not being informed about the dangers," said Mike Buckthought of Sierra Club Canada.