Catherwood LibraryILR School

200 workers from the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant in Ottawa, California are waiting on tenterhooks for the results of tests that will tell them whether or not they were overexposed to radioactivity while repairing a reactor at the plant. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission picked up two unusually high readings of radioactive particles from the Bruce plant last month, and required the plant to identify those who may have been overexposed. 195 workers now wait for test results from the only plant in Canada with the proper analytical capabilities - Chalk River Laboratories. The Lab can only take in about 15-20 samples each week, and the analysis takes about a month to complete. Results are in only for 14 workers so far. It will be up to four months before all affected workers have heard. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has strict standards which does not allow many labs to perform analysis, but are currently considering changing standards to allow several US labs to assist in this analysis, in order to speed up the process for anxious workers.