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AFTER a dramatic turn of events, Canadian politicians and academics are receiving harsh criticism for the swift removal of the head of Canada’s nuclear regulatory agency for shutting down the Chalk River reactor in Ontario.

Linda Keen, president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, was fired shortly after she closed down Chalk River on the grounds of nuclear safety regulations. Her judgement of the facility as “requiring maintenance” before it was to re-open was promptly over-ruled after an emergency House of Commons Late Committee decision.

The crux of the dilemma is that Chalk River supplies half of the world’s medical isotopes for molecular imaging, radiotherapeutics, and analytical instruments. It is the only nuclear reactor in North America that can do this, and as such, closing it immediately led to major delays in medical diagnoses, including thousands of cancer tests in Canada and the US.

After Parliament re-opened the reactor, thus immediately resolving the isotope crisis, Keen and the Government engaged in bitter correspondence. Keen was furious that a governing body independent from the government had its independence and its integrity taken from it.

Her decision to close the facility was based on the fact that, in Spring 2006, the Chalk Reactor’s operator Atomic Energy was ordered to add a third backup power supply to two heavy water pumps. Though promised, it was revealed in December that those demands had not been met, and Keen considered the Chalk River as a “severe danger to society”. After the re-opening, Keen went public last week with complaints of political interference about phone calls and a letter she received threatening her dismissal.

The government responded swiftly in a statement: "Having reviewed the actions of the president around the extended shutdown of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) Chalk River Nuclear Research Universal reactor, it is clear that the government is not satisfied that she demonstrated the leadership expected. The extended shutdown of the reactor was threatening to cause a national and international health crisis."

Opposition parties and the civil service are lining up behind Keen in her support. The press are choosing sides in this no-win dilemma, leading to a nationwide debate on the situation.