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Today, National Energy Board issued an Order regarding pipeline materials. I have written about materials safety and Canada's pipeline safety — this is a positive sign. Perhaps another paper tiger, but a shift in Canada's Government tone — new leadership that tries to swim, not look the other way hoping taxpayers will cover the damages of drowned victims.
This Order is important. It states that materials, for pipelines, must comply with Canada's safety regulations. Wow, do we need orders like this? Seems our National Energy Board is in way over its head with respect to accepted engineering principles in Canada? Seems criminal, to me, but that is only my opinion.
Law, on paper, looks great! As M.C. Escher has effectively demonstrated, just because you can draw it doesn't mean you can make it work. Yes, this NEB Safety Order sets a new tone, but nothing beats science for determining failure rates. So, what is the failure rate of our Canadian journalism with respect to failure rates? 100%? No, closer to 99.997%*.
With the materials failures that may have recently killed two Alberta workers, or the materials failures that may have crippled our TransCanada highway, I wonder if Canada's Nuclear Safety Board will issue a similar Order as the National Energy Board? With the Darlington CANDU retool, seems like it might be smart to take care of business up front, to avoid more Stephen Harper Government "surprises" — dead Canadians isn't a funny topic.
* — please re-read my math joke and laugh?