Friday, July 29, 2005

"It's a good Nuclear Day"

10:00 came and I found myself standing in the Mechanical Maintenance shop surrounded by quite a few Lepreau employees (some who had already taken all the seats) all staring at a large screen. We watched Energy Minister Bruce Fitch (this would be entirely more enjoyable if I had a picture of him and my dad in high school or something) walk onto the platform and introduce Premier Lord and two guests.

Bernard Lord stood up and took his place at the podium. Both he and Bruce were saying positive things about Point Lepreau, however I did not want to jump to conclusions. Then, the Premier of New Brunswick announced the decision. They had decided to refurbish.

The crowd on the screen went wild. Everyone in the Maintenance shop was pretty silent, but I saw a few cracked smiles.

I think the government made the right decision. In the long run, this will be a much cheaper option than fossil fuels to say the least. I am mostly pleased for the 700 or so workers who make their way to Lepreau every morning for work. It would be a major loss for some of the workers.

After the newscast, the Health Physics department (of which I am a part of) had a "group hug" (meeting), and this is where I saw most people's reactions. Everyone was thrilled, and relieved. Being Friday, there were not a large amount of us at the meeting (about six or seven), but those who took today off were calling in, and asking about the results.

I found out at lunch that other departments had ice cream cake. Definitely more delicious than a group hug!

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