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News/3 Where does Clarington belong? Sports/13 Golfers score Open call CLARINGTON'S AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER SINCE 1854 Clarington was well-prepared Emergency measures plan enacted during blackout BY CARLY FOSTER Staff Writer CLARINGTON - With a nuclear power station in its boundaries, Clarington was well-prepared for an emergency emergency situation like the massive massive blackout last week. "We opened up our emergency emergency measures offices four hours before the premier declared declared a state of emergency," said Mayor John Mutton. "We're pretty much on the ball with respect to that." Municipal staff and emergency emergency services practise every year because of the Darlington Darlington nuclear plant, and it came in handy Thursday and Friday last week, he said. Unlike other municipalities, municipalities, Clarington did not scrap its emergency generators from the bogus Y2K fears and had lots of extra power. Mayor Mutton and his staff also have Telus two-way cellphones cellphones and radios, and since the company has so many towers around Durham, had no real problems with communications. communications. Durham Regional Regional Police Services also share the same type of phone. While Clarington's rural areas, served by Hydro One, had power back around 2 a.m., towns like Bowmanville - which get power from Darlington Darlington - did not have light again until late Friday evening. "Because of that, our biggest item now is people's spoiled food," Mayor Mutton said. A bin for spoiled food has been set up at the transfer station station on Regional Road 42, south of Hwy. 2 near Hwy. 35/115. At Clarington Town Hall, staff are also taking measures to cut power consumption, Mayor Mutton said. Air conditioning has been turned off or up, buildings are closing at 4,p.m. before peak power times, employees are encouraged to take the stairs; and unnecessary lights are off. Night meetings at all municipal municipal buildings have been cancelled. cancelled. JASON UEBREGTSZ Statesman photo Premier Ernie Eves visited the General Motors assembly plant in Oshawa Monday to thank them for their efforts to reduce power. GM was one of the first companies to offer to reduce its electricity consumption. Premier drives home thanks Eves points out Oshawa GM plants meeting power reduction requests BY MARTIN DERBYSHIRE Staff Writer OSHAWA -- General Motors Motors of Canada received a personal personal pat on the back from Ernie Eves Monday, after quickly following through on a request from the premier to reduce reduce power consumption in the wake of last week's blackout. "I just want to say thanks to all the workers at GM for their co-operation," said Mr. Eves, in Oshawa for a quick tour of the temporarily idle plant. "GM was one of the first companies to come forward and offer to reduce reduce its electricity consumption and they have done it, reducing usage from about 160 megawatts down to 71 megawatts. That's a 56-per-cent reduction -- quite an achievement." achievement." David Patterson, GM's vice- president of corporate and environmental environmental affairs, said in addition addition to other shutdowns and shift cancellations at plants across the province, two of three shifts at Oshawa's No. 1 car plant had been cancelled, leaving only the night crew running. running. He said the two shifts at the No. 2 plant had also been can celled, but the Oshawa Truck Plant would remain open. The move came Sunday after the premier called on business business and industry to reduce power consumption by 50 per cent to help avoid rolling blackouts blackouts throughout the province. "This is a great step in the right direction," added Mr. Eves. "Across the province our consumption is at around 17,600 megawatts, that's down substantially for a regular Monday. Monday. We're making progress." The premier said the biggest challenge for Ontarians and businesses across the province would be in continuing to reduce reduce power with even warmer temperatures expected later in the week. See GM page 6 What really happened Business as usual at hospital Shutdown was safe but costly for Ontario BY JACQUIE MclNNES Staff Editor DURHAM - Nine seconds was all it look to cripple the majority majority of the Ontario and northeast northeast United States power grid as a frequency fluctuation wreaked havoc on the system last Thursday Thursday afternoon. In the control rooms of Ontario Ontario Power Generation's nuclear plants, immediately following, decisions were being made in moments that would later he analyzed analyzed for weeks, It was the human operators that were charged, with deciding between three options. They could: • lake the units into 'poison prevent' stand-down mode at 60 per cent power but they could only do so safely if conditions were optimal ; • lake the units to 'zero power hot,' a state where the reactor cannot produce sufficient heat to make steam. It's safer than option one but a full re-start takes about 40 hours; • or option three, lake the reactors reactors to 'guaranteed shut down,' a dead stop accomplished by adding chemicals that make fission fission reaction impossible. From this stale, it can lake several days to gel the units back on-line. At the Pickering Generating Station, where the design was not created to go into stay up at 60 per cent for more than a lew hours, there was no decision to he made, really. The units were forced into option three -- full shutdown with an expected several several day restart. At Darlington, where the newer reactor design is more flexible for these types of situations, situations, (he operators had big decisions decisions to make, quickly. In the end, Unit 3 systems were cleared to hold at the stand- down level as operators awaited instruction from the Independent Electricity Market Operator (1MO) to go into restart mode. When the call came about 10 p.m. that night, the unit was at the ready to be hooked back up and start pumping power back into the grid. By late Friday, it was operating at full power. For the other three Darlington reactors the decision was not so simple. In (lie case of Units I and 2, the overseeing operator simply did not have time to verify that all systems were safe to keep the unit operating safely given the Sco SHUTDOWN page 6 Generators keep Bowmanville site running CLARINGTON - Patients at Lakeridge Health Bowmanville Bowmanville would hardly have known there was a blackout last week. Emergency generators kept essential lights and equipment going and staff kept patients informed on what was happening. happening. "I think the staff once again pulled together and made sure patients were well cared for," said Chris Kooy, the hospital's chief operating officer. "During the period of emergency, the generators we had, had plenty of fuel for several days at each of our sites." Those generators are now at full capacity in case rolling blackouts hit, she added. "Our engineers arc in and out of the building, monitoring, monitoring, making sure everything works and everyone is comfortable," comfortable," Ms. Kooy said. The hospital is trying to conserve as much energy as possible, turning off lights, computers and monitors that aren't needed, turning down air conditioning, reducing the use of kettles and encouraging staff to bring meals that don't have to he reheated. Suspect sought in stabbing BOWMANVILLE - Police Police are still investigating after a 19-year-old man was knifed in the back and stomach stomach during Thursday's blackout. blackout. Durham Regional Police said the victim was taken to Lakeridge Health Bow-: manville with serious injuries injuries after being stabbed during an altercation in the park at St. Stephen's Catholic School about 8:15 p.m. A suspect fled and a small knife was recovered. An 18-year-old suspect was identified and the investigation investigation is continuing, police said. INDEX Editorial Page 4 Classified 9 Sports 13 GIVE US A CALL General 905-579-4400 Distribution 905-579-4407 General FAX 905-579-2238 Newsroom FAX 905-579-1809 durhamregion.com • SERVICE • PARTS • NEW & USED SALES & LEASING EXTENDED SERVICE HOURS MON., TUES., THURS., FRI. 7:30-6:00 WED.- 7:30-9:00 SAT.-9:00-1:00 ACCREDITED TEST & REPAIR FACILITY •Ail oftlciul murk of (lie Province of Onltirlo used under licence. Whitby - Oshawa 1110 DUNDAS. ST. 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