Month: October 2017

As forwarded from CNS

The Chalk River Branch of the Canadian Nuclear Society is pleased to offer a seminar entitled “Applications of Accelerators to Nuclear R&D”:
Where:     JL Gray – Bennett Room (Back Entrance)
When:     Wednesday, May 31st
Refreshments/Reception at 6:00 pm, Talk at 6:30 pm
Who:      Dr. Bill Diamond
Price:     Free, Open to the Public

Summary

Accelerators have been used for research at the forefront of Sub-Atomic Physics since their earliest development.
The continuous improvements in accelerator technology required to support the user communities has led to very robust technologies for both positive-ion and electron accelerators. This talk will explore several applications of electron accelerators that are possible with the accelerator technologies that have become available in the past few years. Electron accelerators are gaining wider applications in the production of medical isotopes, particularly some of the emerging isotopes such as Sc-47, Cu-67 and alpha emitters used for targeted alpha treatments. Photonuclear reactions can be used for loop experiments to produce intense heat, neutron emission and a modest fission rates with uranium fuel inside a pressure tube. The final idea discussed is the potential to produce an intense pulsed neutron source for neutron scattering applications.

Speaker Information

Bill Diamond received his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Toronto in 1974 and then switched to Accelerator Physics for the next 23 years. He moved to the USA in 1976 for 13 years, working at Columbia University for two years followed by 6 years at Schlumberger-Doll Research Center in Connecticut (an oil services company) and 5 years at the Thomas-Jefferson Laboratories in Virginia. He worked on a variety of accelerator technologies ranging in size from a miniature (d,t) neutron generator for use in oil wells up to a high-energy superconducting rf electron linear accelerator at a new US Department of Energy facility in Virginia. Bill returned to CRNL in 1989 to work at the Tandem Accelerator Super Conducting Cyclotron (TASCC) facility. He conducted some key underlying research in high-voltage breakdown in vacuum before the TASCC facility was shut down in 1997. Bill then worked on developing novel mechanical components for CANDU reactors, including the CANDU 6, the ACR, and the Canadian Supercritical-Water Reactor (SCWR). Bill retired from CRL in 2010 and continued to work on several accelerator projects including facility design and safety analysis for a new Tandem accelerator facility at Queen’s University and as part of a small team at the Canadian Light Source, developing the use of an electron accelerator to produce the medical isotope, moly-99. Bill has worked on many aspects of accelerator technology, from underlying research through engineering, construction, operations and maintenance activities on at least six different types of accelerators. This experience, combined with many years working on CANDU reactors, enables Bill to bring a unique view to the topic of this speech.

A CNS membership is not required to attend this seminar; all are welcome. For more information, please contact Aidan Leach (613-584-3311 x44599 or 613-633-1158).

We mentioned we would let you know when the retroactive pay lump sum was expected in the March 31 update on salary increases. HR has confirmed that we should see the retroactive pay on the May 11 pay period.

If you were at the ratification vote you would have heard us talk about the CERI pension plan, and you may have heard that CERI is our plan B for our pension. CRPEG along with the other unions have formed a lobbying group with the express purpose of convincing the stakeholders, MPs, Treasury Board, and the PMO, that keeping CNL as part of the PSSA not only makes sense for the employees, is not the burden on the government as it was perceived but may also be a benefit to national interest in that it is an incentive to attract and retain talent to support Canada’s science and technology laboratory. Already in April this group spent a week talking to the various stakeholders and they had questions. The group is going back to Ottawa again in May to meet again with the answers to those questions.

They need your help. The group has put together a short survey they would like you to participate in that will give them direct input that they can use in their lobbying efforts. We would encourage you all to take a few minutes in support of us staying in the PSSA.

Forwarded on behalf of OPSE

***

The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) in cooperation with North Bay Mining Week, MIRARCO Mining Innovation, and Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) North Bay Chapter presents:

Spark the Fire – Realizing the Untapped Potential of Ontario’s North

Ontario’s Ring of Fire represents a $60-billion multi-generational economic opportunity, arguably the world’s most promising mineral development project in more than a century. However, this potential is shrouded by both technical and societal challenges, multi-level political decision-making, dynamic risks, and palpable uncertainty.
The scale and complexity of these challenges makes the Ring of Fire a mega-project. As born problem solvers, it is time that Ontario’s engineers ask themselves:
How can engineers spark the fire and help realize the untapped potential of Ontario’s north?
Join engineering, industry, government, academic, and First Nations leaders for an important discussion on the future of Ontario’s north. On innovation, energy, infrastructure, environmental stewardship, and relations with First Nations Communities—our broad spectrum of presenters will be answering tough questions and charting the future development of Ontario’s north.
For all those of you who are interested in attending this event, Registration is now open. More details on the main event can be found at: https://www.ospe.on.ca/spark-the-fire.
For further information, please contact Patrick Sackville directly using the contact information provided below, and not PEO, PEO Algonquin Chapter or CRPEG.

Contact:
Patrick Sackville
Lead, Policy and Government Relations | Tel 416.223.9961 X 225 | patrick@ospe.on.ca

Well April 1 is here. New fiscal year, new budgets, and new charge numbers. The other thing you might have noticed in Oracle is that the new system shows your vacation as it is earned instead of what you are entitled to as it did in the past. See myCNL posting (http://mycnl/News/Company_News_2017/Access_to_your_leave_records.htm).

This change is due to an upgrade to the Oracle system and does not represent any change to the Collective Agreement. Per Article 13.03 of the Collective Agreement, members with 6 or more months of service shall be credited with their leave. As a result of this change you may encounter times when you see a negative leave balance. Managers are aware of the change in Oracle, and this should not affect any members from taking leave. If it does so, please contact us immediately.

We also recommend following the steps in the myCNL posting to create a future dated report to see what leave you are entitled to (e.g., leave entitled by 2018 March 31) and to ensure the upgrade correctly applied your leave details. If you find any errors you should contact your HR Representative to have the mistakes corrected.

The Benefits Committee is planning to once again go to market with our benefits plan. This is done from time to time to ensure that CNL employees get the best value plan. CRPEG is a member of that committee and we are asking for your input/feedback on changes to the benefits package, i.e., if there is any changes to the current extended health care or dental care options that you would like to see included in the benefits package. This is our chance to provide information on changes/enhancements as part of the Request For Proposals. Please provide your feedback to us by 2017 April 21 so that it can be considered.

CNS has asked us to pass on that the talk by Dr. McCarthy had to be rescheduled talk to April 26 (a Wednesday). Please see below for the update.

The PEO asked us to forward this on their behalf. Details are in the attachment.

Speaker: Gerard McDonald, P.Eng., MBA

                  Registrar, PEO

When:     Monday, 2017 May 01

Meet and Greet: 6:30 p.m., Talk: 7:00 p.m.

Where:    J.L. Gray Engineering Centre, Deep River

(Entry via Rear Doors)

Light Refreshments Will Be Served

To register and attend, please email Uditha Senaratne at
peoalgon@cnl.ca by 2017 April 27

As part of the recently ratified collective agreement, CRPEG has committed to reviewing a number of company-wide policies and procedures that have a specific revision tied to our collective agreement. In some cases there are already more recent revisions of these documents that have been issued (that apply to everyone else but us).  The executive needs your help to complete this review in a timely manner.  For each document, the new revision will be compared to the currently referenced version in our collective agreement.  The time commitment is the time required to review a procedure, and a 1 hr meeting after all comments have been compiled, to determine whether the revised version could be accepted as is.

The procedures to be reviewed are:

o   Travel and Hospitality Procedure Rev 1 vs 4. CW-512200-PRO-120

o   Maternity and Parental Leave Procedure CW-510830-PRO-001 vs CW-510300-PRO-213 rev 1

o   Personnel Security Rev 1 vs 4 CW-510600-PRO-237

o   Researcher/Engineer Emeritus Agreement 00-222.1 vs CW-510100-PRO-327

o   Tuition Reimbursement 00-261.2 vs CW-510200-PRO-001

We are looking for 3-4 individuals for each procedure, spread across all organizations.

If you are interested, or have questions, please contact Curtis Russell by email.

As Forwarded from CNS

The Chalk River Branch of the Canadian Nuclear Society is pleased to present a speaker session with Dr. Kathryn McCarthy, the new Vice President of Research & Development (R&D) at CNL.

Where:                       JL Gray – Bennett Room (Back Entrance)

When:                        Tuesday, April 18^th at 6:30 pm

Who:               Dr. Kathryn McCarthy, Vice President R&D, CNL

Price:           Free, Open to the Public

Summary:

CNL recently completed a 10-year plan that discusses current and planned activities across the CNL sites.  At the core of that document are the Science and Technology (S&T) plans that build on CNL’s rich history of nuclear S&T leadership, and that will position CNL to transform the nuclear future of Canada.  In addition to maintaining important activities such as our support to the CANDU industry and to the Federal government, we will build on our differentiating capabilities, broadening our customer base and growing our reputation both nationally and internationally. This talk will discuss CNL’s S&T plans and specific initiatives where there are exciting growth opportunities.

Speaker Information:

Dr. McCarthy is Vice-President, Research and Development for the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.  From February 2012 to January 2017 she was Director of Domestic Programs for Nuclear Science and Technology at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the Director of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program Technical Integration Office for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE).  Prior to that she was Deputy Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science & Technology at INL, National Technical Director for the Systems Analysis Campaign for the DOE-NE Fuel Cycle R&D Program, and was involved in various other nuclear fission and fusion programs before that; she was employed at the Idaho National Laboratory for 25 years.

She received her B.S. in Nuclear Engineering at the University of Arizona in 1983; M.S., 1986 and Ph.D., 1989, in Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.  Dr. McCarthy was a Guest Scientist at the Kernforschungszentrum (Nuclear Research Center) in Karlsruhe, Germany, March-September 1989, and spent a year in the Soviet Union with the Department of Energy US/USSR Young Scientist Program, at the Efremov and Kurchatov Institutes in Russia, and the Latvian Academy of Science in Latvia, September 1989-August 1990. She is a member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), beginning as a student in 1979, and is currently on the Executive Committee (2014-2017) for the Human Factors, Instrumentation and Controls Division; she has served on the ANS Board of Directors 2002-2008 (two terms), is the former Vice Chair of Professional Women in ANS, Fusion Energy Division Chair (2000-2001), Vice-Chair (1999-2000) and Executive Committee (1996-1999), ANS Idaho Section Chair (2001-2002) and Vice-Chair (2000-2001), and the University of Arizona Student Chapter ANS President (1982-83). Her awards include the an ANS Presidential citation in 2015 for “Leadership and guidance of the Light Water Reactor Sustainability effort….that has helped set the stage for US power companies to be able to make informed decisions regarding subsequent license renewal for their operating nuclear units…,” 2011 Nuclear Energy Advocate of the Year Award (given by the Partnership for Science and Technology), the 2011 Girl Scouts of Silver Sage Women of Today and Tomorrow Award, an American Nuclear Society Presidential Citation in 2007 for “…outstanding service to the ANS,” the 2000 ANS Women’s Achievement Award, 1996 International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor U.S. Home Team Leadership Award, and the 1994 David Rose Award for Excellence in Fusion Engineering.

A CNS membership is not required to attend this seminar; all are welcome. For more information, please contact Aidan Leach.