Response, December 22, 2010 e-DOC: 3653567 ccmMercury: 2010-000690 E-mail to Michel A. Duguay, Full Professor, Université Laval Dear Dr. Duguay: I am writing in reference to your letter of December 6, 2010, which was sent by e-mail to Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) President Michael Binder and to Greg Rzentkowski, a Director General with the CNSC. Your letter concerns the ongoing public hearing pertaining to the Hydro-Québec application to renew its operating licence for the Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station in Bécancour, Quebec. Mr. Binder has asked me to answer your letter in my capacity as Commission Secretary. First of all., let me confirm that the Commission Members who have been asked to rule on Hydro-Québec’s application have received a copy of your letter. However, only the submissions by Hydro-Québec and by CNSC personnel were considered on December 10, which was the first day of the hearing (Hearing Day 1). As specified in the Notice of Public Hearing (enclosed), interventions from members of the public will be heard in Hearing Day 2, which will be held on April 13 and 14, 2011, in Bécancour. As you know, CNSC hearings are held on two separate days several months apart. Members of the public therefore have an opportunity to observe the presentations made by the licence holder and CNSC staff during Day 1, as well as the questions asked by the Commission Members. Interested members of the public can obtain a transcript or view a Webcast of the Day 1 proceedings and thus have more time and information with which to prepare their own submissions and presentations for Hearing Day 2. In light of the above information, the Commission intends to proceed with Hearing Day 2 in April 2011 and therefore denies your request to have Hearing Day 2 postponed to 2012. As to your request to have the reactor put in a shutdown state on December 31, 2010, the Commission is currently considering Hydro-Québec’s application to extend the licence by a period of six months under the same terms and conditions as the existing licence. A decision on that application will be made by December 31, 2010. The other two requests concerning the physical securing of the Gentilly-2 nuclear power facility, including waste areas, and the formation of teams by Hydro-Québec to measure radioactivity in Quebec may be raised during Hearing Day 2. I would appreciate it if you could confirm whether your letter of December 6 is to be considered your submission for Hearing Day 2 and added to the official record of the hearing proceedings, or whether you would prefer to table a separate submission between now and the closing date of March 14, 2011. Your letter of December 6 could also be tabled as a submission to which a further submission would be added between now and the closing date of March 14. In addition, you are invited to appear at Hearing Day 2 in Bécancour to present the key elements of your submission. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any additional information. Yours sincerely, Marc Leblanc Commission Secretary Encl. (1) c.c. Michael Binder, CNSC Greg Rzentkowski, CNSC Louise Levert, CNSC André Harvey, Commission Member, CNSC Kenneth Joseph Pereira, Commission Member, CNSC Ronald Barriault, Commission Member, CNSC Dan Tolgyesi, Commission Member, CNSC Jean Charest, Premier, Province of Quebec Nathalie Normandeau, Deputy Premier, Province of Quebec Pierre Arcand, Quebec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks Robert Dutil, Quebec Minister of Public Security Yves Bolduc, Quebec Minister of Health Pauline Marois, Parti québécois Amir Khadir, Québec solidaire Martine Ouellet, Parti québécois Sylvain Gaudreault, Parti québécois Scott McKay, Parti québécois Agnès Maltais, Parti québécois Stéphane Bergeron, Parti québécois Gérard Deltell, Action démocratique du Québec Claude Sabourin, Parti vert du Québec [green party of Quebec] Bernard Généreux, President, Fédération québécoise des Municipalités [federation of Quebec municipalities] Michel Morin, Member of the Board of Directors, Federation of Canadian Municipalities Éric Forest, President, Union of Quebec Municipalities Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources John Baird, Minister of the Environment Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety Josée Verner, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health Tony Clement, Minister of Industry Gilles Duceppe, Bloc Québécois Paule Brunelle, Bloc Québécois Bernard Bigras, Bloc Québécois Maria Mourani, Bloc Québécois Luc Malo, Bloc Québécois Michael Ignatief, Liberal Party of Canada Gérard Kennedy, Liberal Party of Canada Denis Coderre, Liberal Party of Canada Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal Party of Canada Mark Holland, Liberal Party of Canada Jack Layton, New Democratic Party of Canada Thomas Mulcair, New Democratic Party of Canada Elisabeth May, Green Party of Canada Pierre Paradis, Commission de l’agriculture, des pêcheries, de l’énergie et des ressources naturelles [Quebec commission on agriculture, fisheries, energy and natural resources] Danielle Doyer, Commission permanente des transports et de l’environnement [Quebec commission on transportation and the environment] Peter Gordon MacKay, Cabinet Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security .