AECL showing 'lack of focus' on Point Lepreau: Graham

New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham urged Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL)todevote more attention to the $1.4-billion refurbishment ofthe province's Point Lepreau power plant, the sole nuclear reactor in Atlantic Canada.

The massive refurbishment project is designed to extendthe life of the reactor by another 25 years, butit has already slipped at least seven months behind schedule, and that delay couldgrowtoa year.

Graham said the delays with the reactor began happening after NB Power turned the refurbishment project over to AECL.

The premier said he believes the federal Crown corporation, which is responsible for rebuilding the reactor, is too distracted by other issues to adequately focus on the N.B. reactor.

"Where there seems to be lack of focus is coming from Ontario. AECL, today, is getting ready to refurbish a reactor in Korea. We all know [about] the MAPLE reactor issue, the isotope issue," Graham said in an interview Wednesday.

"As well, there are cost overruns with reactors in Ontario, with Bruce Power. They seem to be focused on a number of other files, and we're asking them to make this their top priority."

CBC News reported earlier in September that the reactor was now nine months behind schedule. Graham and provincial Energy Minister Jack Keir have been unable to pin down an exact date for when the reactor will be turned back on and begin generating power again.

Graham said his government is now seeking a firm completion date for the refurbishment.

"That's why we've been asking from the federal government of Stephen Harper and [Natural Resources Minister] Lisa Raitt, for them to take control of this situation," he said.

Dale Coffin, a spokesman with AECL, said in an email earlier this week that the Crown corporation is inspecting the reactor's calandria tubes, which contain pressure tubes that in turn hold the uranium fuel bundles.

"The results from this inspection will allow us to set a firmer completion schedule for our scope of the project," Coffin wrote. "We will be updating NB Power on the overall project schedule just as soon as the inspection has been completed."