HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-08-05, Page 5•
777.
t''rODE RICHSIGNAL$STAR, THI.,tftSDAY;LT--G118T
Hu n.an +ml a , ineOban cal defect'. blamed at ChOilk,Riveio
°
t3,43. -racre4,107.1
:. Thai ks
Dear.,Editor, m.
On behalf ,.of the people bf
Goderich • and all its visitors'
Who enjoyed; the "Festival of
the Arts". held on Julya.5.,_16,
and 17th we extend our hearty
congratulations ' and incere
thanks.:to'Jeari'Adam ` for a
job well done, . '
H o.w: ,:.
many', of
Goderich realize that Jean
pulled. this Mow 'together in
eight to tern short weeks." .
We are thankful that she
acjepted the Chairmanship
because, quite possibly, there
might not have , been a
"Fest'i`val :'of Arts
e i '
,h. . this•,
.year without her. .
It was not an easy task, but'
she came through with flying
•color.s. Thanks, Jean. . '
• Gwen K'iar•
An interested viewer.
�nawnn �:,mxt5v--q.
Needs. info.•
Dear Editor, _..
Tracing ancestors of the
Goderich area, a request has
come to me concerning early
immigrants ''Wafter.
,Stevens families . from .a,
correspondent in London,
England, which reads in.
A number of •different
subjects were written. 'in its
contents and each .one
Corn'plete under ° its own
heading.. He.' also wrote
`•Philosopher of Lazy.
Meadows" . each week that.
appeared, on this editorial
page of The Goderich 'Signal
for quite a. long-time.•'
The:: late... W.H,' Robertson
w -as Editor -of The Signal 'at
the,t.►xne and I -.vas Eoreinan
of .thee Composing Room. I
have a copy of the booklet
somewhere :which 'I saved
When we printed it -in the.
early 1930's.
Harry's father after said to
me ' "That boy is going to go
,places. Sure enou h: he did..
;and -•how: Good luck and keep,_
it up Harry,
1
19'76 ..PAG
Clarence MacDonald.
' 133 Alfred Street
Brantford, Ontario
• N3S 5.G7
OPEN LETTER TO'•
COMMERCE COURT
Editor. of "The Commercial
Letter" i 3
Canadian Imperial Bian1 of
..Commerce
Commerce Court`
Toronto, Ontario
Dear Si:
: C RIRLEY...KBLLE-R
CANTDU is, of courslithe
•local watchdog when it:cgnies
to the , 'question of nuclear
'energy: This week, a,member
•of CANTDU, Don McKee of
Behmil;ler, has forwarded to
the Signal -star what he terms
"a detailed • account of the
mis-hap at Chalk River" in
1.952. •
""This ie. a true.account•of.
what happened at Chalk
Ri--ver,' Ontario, on:December
12, 1952,'° Mr, McKee ad-
vised. "It .,involves the ex-
perimental heavy water
uranium reactor;'prototype of
the CANDU system.' •
Mr. McKee and the other
Members of CANTDU • have
repeatedly warned of the
danger the worldcould be in
if the 'nuclear energy
program - goes -ahead as
planned before sufficient'
'study.. is • undertaken to
determine the .Tong -term
affects on the environment..
It \was ;interesting to .see Thearea biologist believes
that the margin 'of human
error-andmechanical failure
is•too great —'arid therisk of
your recent edition devoted to
•
"More recently, I was ,..the "Great Lakes and the • St.
overjoyed at discovering yet Lawrence": It was however
more "Walter immigrantsdisappointing to . find
finding their way to Goderich, Goderich overlooked. •'
Ont. in'the' 1830'•s,: o.ne..of the ... The •or-igins of this Corn
early. Ch'urchtown ' Walters' pany date to 1866 and the first
'(gentry) of West Putford, • grain elevator constructed
Devon,' Eng. who had a son- • anywhere on the • Great.
Charles Walter .(1776 1825) Lakes. Of recent years ,the
whose .: wid&w'" Sarah' •(nee • Sifto Sa:ltMine:have joined us
Stevens) apparently as a user of the Port and itis
emigrated to Goderich from safe .to say that• Goderich
Holsworthy,' Devonshire in handles more. tonnage in a
1837 with her youngest year than Owen Sound,
daughter Alice and died in . Collingwood and IVIidland.put
. .... /f]'�'iTPY��$.•••.i-° ...- .x•N'7'CT'C♦1 ..,r.�. ..-�"1C•-i".-...-... .. .-.-.
xw«.y�Y.w,•;sg._ ...�- _...,._ .,_�l+4WnA4Ra±��_1FLS'SYieX.4 f�.•....r.fr•r,!..,Y3'f
• burie in t e' towvn...cemetery, Too badyou missed us.from
wherever that might be:" ' _;. an'historical, standpoint also:
Is_ ft. pbs.sibl'e' that any of . Champlain, camped on Lake
�rnu -rens 'we .-,d,--tea e--- u� on—at;_ he—mouth of t
knowledge _of .the above Maitland. and. the 'Canada
immigrants and could , be' Company, had settlers here in
., helpful in us leaarning•. mere', the late 1700's.
•�� . about Mrs. Charles Walter - . •. The relevance. of Douglas
nee' Sarah Stevens and her Point. escapes us since really
—=- daughter Alice---'as--above. it doesn't figure -in -Seaway or
Genealogists would be most. GreatLakes trade. ..
grateful:
at being ° slighted in • your
Sincerely,.. •
article' particularly 'with •a
Mrs.• W.J. Strang,ways : 150th birthday of., the `-tow_n
' 338 LondorPRd., coming up in 1977. s'
Sarnia, Submitted as an' unofficial
booster for. Goderich: '
• Yours verytruy,'
•
•
.•• I guess we're a, Tittle touchy
N2.T4W3
O.G.S. M'em_ be_r. r4o. 276
George G. Parsons
<.,
_ Harry J. Boyle:, President
Editor's Note This oversight
Dear Editor was noted by'the editor when
The• article in the July 29. a copy .of'. the. Commercial
issue of The Signal Starabout Letter arrived at the Signal
-
'Harry J. Boyle was in- Star. ' Thank you, ' Mr:.,Par-
. teyesting.. However I. can sons, for taking the initiative •
possibly add. a little that few •'. to 'w cite to .Commerce' Court.
of your °readers -will'. concerning,your feelings on
remember• of • his early, this•matter. Y,ouspokeout•for
literary ambitions:. It... was"—many:
about the time he was going.
to High School that the
Goderich Signal printed his • • • . , .
first paper back. book -.let of • • '
'about forty _pages. I" :think : e,ewhat forest fires
•the, page size would be 6 A9 •• •cando.to.Canada!
:..inches. ' ..:'.
•
•
horrible- - n.&._devastating
" accldent teo real —,to ju_stify..
the ettistenee of ' even one
more 'nuclear•reactor in this
country. . '
The` Chalk River incident is,
according to. Mr. McKee, just
onee,bf•. •a series • of. near
disastrers in the nuclear in-•.
dustry which never received
_.. !lhhc...a.ttentlon.._when :the
eec:tLrred
"In fact it is doubtful if .the
political' decision -maker's
were made. fully aware Qf the
details and . im ications,
'involved Mr.. McKee
•pointed out.... L.;•
The following'was prepared
by Don . McKee who . also
wrote;" I feel it is of sufficient
significance to the people of
this"axes that' you, might like.
to publish. it. This -incident
apparently...bad .no influence
on the decision to -press on
with. the - CANDU 'nuclear
'energy program.
This is the story: • •
"The 'scene r- the contriy,1
room -of the NRY reactor. It is
mid-afternoon and a routine
low power••test run of the
ew radio units
he ••--C o cl era c�ti
�partmenA�nt ha.s hecome one
of the first'forces in Ontario to
be using updated•features of a
new Bell: ratiin-tr.tr�r,hn.ra
communication system. While on patrol' an officer is : •
system-,. is- about- fie--st"rt•: ' • In'
error an assistantop.erator.on
the ._lower floor Nopens some
air -pressure relief valves and
so deactivates part of the-,
systemdwhich w'ithdraw•s the
fuel ros•
"As .the reactor starts up,
the supervisor is alarmed to
see red warning lights flash
on_.Lhe_
ec 1':
nn�t- ,,rn panel:.wLeavin
the control 1s
panel, he-:oh.ec]cs
downstairs and spots the open
.valves and promptly closes
them, •
the phone to carry outThis•
instructions. • •
"The ;reactor was" now
'abovhe' ,critical' with- heat
output doubling every `two
seconds: The reactor was
'scrammed' — an emergency
p'rocedur'e designed to de-
activate ail the°fuel rods. The
heat output continued to rise.
— A• • ..combination cif hi rn n --
errors and mechanical
defects had produced • . an
irreversiblersituation. A ,core
meltdown was imminent.
"Hurn
ed . consultations
determined that the only
strategy left was to cut off the
fission process by dumping
the heavy water moderator,
worth millions of dollars and
which would take years to'
replace. This operation was
started ..but carried out with
"The •red warning lights go'
off,..but-what.was not realized
.was. that the rods,fh question
had jammed ands were only
partly de -activated:„ Reac-
tivity in the reactor was
rising too rapidly. •
"When the supervisor
became aware of this in-
crease he: grew alarmed,
contacted' his assistant-
downstair.•- over the inter-
com, and ordered him to push
controls 4 and 3. In the ex-
citement he actually said:. 4
and 5. 'When' he realized his
error, the assistar),t had left-
•
caution as th.e :lowered
pressure inside the reactor
vessel might cause it to.
collapse. Slowly the in-
strurnents returned to nor-'
mal. - • -'
"Over the linter-com it was
reported. that•, the basement
was flooding. A quick test
•
revealed 1 was ordinary.
water but heavily con-
taminated -with radio -active;,
material's •-
"A `dull. explosion,. was
heard. The lid of•the reacti)r,•
weighing some four tons, rose •
in the. air and water poured
out. Lethal levels of radiation
.were now escaping from ,the
"A siren. Sounded warning
all the personnel on the site to
Proceed to th.e nearest
building and close all doors
and windows. In the .control
room it was necessary • to
wear protective respi'rators,•
As •a result;• discussion
became impossible and it was
necessary for. key personnel
to retreat from the operation
room to: a less contaminated
area.. •
"Orders were given for all
un -essential persons. to
evacuate the Chalk River site
as' -highly radio -active water
°continued to. flood the reactor
building.It was essential to
continue to `irrigate the fuel
rods to keep then•i cool as
otherwisq a- drsastei'00-6fe
would result.
"After several hours, to the
rrehef of•everyone, the reactor :,-:
'tamed down' and the process,
, of .'decontamination started •
Wearing .protecti•ve suits and ' "`'
respirators, operators
gathered up:. contam:inatel
materials to bp trucked out
and tinned -if( niemcite sib
"The level of radiation was
such 'that "'crews had -to be .'
changed at- short intervals,
and extra help trained for the
operation. An • emergency
pipe line/ was buil,t..:1to purnp
contaminated water to a
sandy valley .over a ' mile
away. Large quantities of -
long lived radio -active -
materials were being 'hidden
but not eliminated from the
environment.
"A post-rnortum revealed
that- if one more -rod had.
jammed, a melt down and• a
major disaster would -.have
been inevitable. • This ex-
petience showed • that
meEhanica1 defectsand •
human error can. compound
each other to produce quite
unpredictable results"
eritn, tOrCe.':
l�+'. . , SIC•':tN✓� e".PFvuSLL -•0a.o
unit can :also Glial Out Which
eliminates a third -Party relay
used in the old•system. "
Te.system is an ABC unit
with -a Res 'option. •. and
1aoderich was " the ',first
•departnient to use the, units
with '`updated features.
Similar units are 'now being
used in Essex. and `Parry-
• Sound.
The three portable and two
radio units are being -leased
from ' Bell arid Goderich
Police Chief F.D. King ex-
=plained that the unit works
similar to -the -old radios
system with certain. ad-
vantages .; .- -----
"The. units work thesame
as thea old radio .system' but.
many'things:can be built into
these units which gives it
certain advantages." Chief
King said. "Now 'any call
coming to the. station after
hours will go directly to a
cruiser or a ivalkie-talkie."
This means that an officer
:is -not required at the station
at all times since 'incor;ring
calls are automatically
transferred to the either' the'
car. unit. or . the '' walkie
able to call the. OPP from the
cruiser and get a'make on a
•
car or person • within a., few
minutes..: The old radio
system • has been kept in
service forbackup and i$ also''• .•
used ' to keep 'contact with
other . - departm ents'i
county."
Goderich:. is ' ` the first
department'to have walkie-
talkies with a phone and the
lease • arrangement is .only .
half the cost of a .full 'an-
swering service.
• The- main advantage of the
systerri is thaA a „call from a
citizen after: ,'hours. is
automatic'b11.y transferred to•
a mobile unit and.whi•le an
officer is talking-to the caller
he can be on his way to the•
scene.. Chief- King cited the
attempted Liquor Store
'robbery as• a prirhe example
of this time saving factor. •
The new units:have
developed the odd snag„ but
'since it is a relatively new ,.
system. theyare being •Constable
remedied along the way. • • operates
•
Peter Mason of the Goderich Police Department system. The new system is .capable of transferrin calls
the, department's new Bell . radio -telephone • directly t.'o a cruiser on duty. (staff photo) • •
n Good season despite dei ite west r
� p
ON THE STUFF THAT BARBECUES ARE MADE OF
..at AINSLIE MARKET where Quality is a Tradition,
CEN KE UV
SIRLOIN•iTEAK
FRESH-=-ST'EAK,ETTE STYLE
MINUTE
STEAKS LBBIG liffilg
,..
FRESH WHOLE ---HALF
(REGULAR LB. $1.19)
FREFH HOME MADE
HAM 'o PORK
,ROASTS
SAUSAGES_
(LB. 89c) F
10 LBS, .R,
-:HOT
BARAI-O
FRESH- -
BABY .BEEF
LB.
99c
LIVER LB. '
1�
LIMITED. CHICKENS '
CAL L 524-8551
" $ 19 5 EACH Hopte Dressed 'Inspected Meats at Wholesale Prices ..
BY ROB SHRIER
A shortage of firewood has
caused problems in seyeral •
provincial parks in recent
months but, according to`
spokesmen for. Point Farms
Provincial Park and the Falls
Reserve Conservation Area,
that problem does not . yet
exist here,
In some places" in Ontario,
supplies of wood are limited
to anAarrn-load pe.r,campsite'
per day, and . in ,,others,
"campers are being directed to
local suppliers for their
needs, • '
But for the present in this
area, firewoodis plentiful and
available at no cost ,to the.
camper: A Point Faring
Spokesman warners however,
that in the future, ,this will be
phased' out. .
It hasbeen a gaod-Year as
far as statistics So' at.°both
local parks, despite? the poor"' "
weather, thus far . Loin t•
F'arr'iis reports an increase in
camper days of 30 percent as
of June 30th, with.' a slight
decrease in day use mainly as
a result: of the weather.
, The long weekends ,have
inaturally filled the • parks, to
capacity, with moderate .use
reported on weekdays.
Heayiest demand was ori, the
24th' of May weekend.. The
majority of campers on that
weekend were students. . •
Other, than that' weekend,
when the teems get away to
"let off -a 'little steam" as -one
spokesrharl put it, there has
been bo a generally° rowdy
behaviour at either park, With
only the occasional complaint -
Of poise at late hours. _•
Vandalism . is . about nil' at
both parks as well. The parks
attrib•W.te the better at-
mosphere tothe prevention of
motorcycles , and their
passengers. ft Dill• entering the:
park. These measures Were
introduced .during the past•
tvuoyears,'. 1iiking both parks
•
1
official-ly • family cam-
pgrounds. . •
'The local camps' share.
• some features, •including the
mobile• library, aservice of
the Huron County Library;
weekly puppet shows spon-
soredby. the `same group; and
hiking. The Falls is a star ting
groups, children s games, art
festivals, _; film' ; square
dances, and water sports are
held as well, but not a regular
basis': Activities foi°. the week
°are made available .to the
campers when they enter the
park in the form of a bulletin.
Both parks are expanding'
point for the Bruce Trail. ---3'—rapidly. rapidly• -The Falls has just
Trails' at Point Farms in- complete a 79 -campsite
elude a fitness trail, in which addition which will be opened
you jog from station.to station next year. New playgr_ound
and dfo the req ,red ,equipment• was" installed
calisthenics, at " each "trail, courtesy of a LtP grant, and
several footpaths through. the . fish . pond has been
bush area and nature trails. stocked with mcre than 300
Other activities at Point rainbow trout. '
Farms are numerous. Church • Massive • expansion and
services, junior and.. -senior.. -renovation is underway at
baseball games, campfire Point Farms. A reading room
singalongs in the park's will be added next year to the
natural amphitheatre, barn. A sound system -was
installed this spring. '-
Two. new campgrounds
have been planned. A wildlife
area'has been started as well,
A plan of the developments is
.tations by local- theatre fices Th h
Craft seminars, presen-• , on displayat the. camp . of- `
h I f
model goes into great detail..
in illustrating park facilities''
and pians for•the•future..
audiovisual • presentations
introducing c ropers to the
park, ping-po g and indoor
i
shuffleboard are regular
activities at the park.
eerg t y twe ve oot
PRACTISE
BREAST SELF-
EXAMINATION
WE -NEED ALL TYPES
BE A REGULAR BLOOD DONOR
22.
•