OPG and OSGE enhance cooperation on SMRs

05 June 2023

Canada's Ontario Power Generation (OPG) will provide operator services to Poland's Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) under a letter of intent signed between the partners, extending their existing cooperation on the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs).

The signing of the letter of intent between OPG and OSGE (Image: OSGE)

The document was signed on 2 June at OPG's Darlington New Nuclear Project during a site visit by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

The letter of intent is aimed at concluding future agreements under which OPG and its subsidiaries could provide operator services for SMR reactors to OSGE in connection with the deployment of SMRs in Poland and other European countries. The partnership would include a number of SMR-related activities including: development and deployment; operations and maintenance; operator training; commissioning; and regulatory support.

"Building competences and training staff is one of the critical elements necessary to introduce nuclear energy in Poland, and OPG is the largest and most competent operator of nuclear power plants in Canada with over 50 years of experience," OSGE said.

In March, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), OPG and OSGE agreed to work together to advance the global deployment of the GEH BWRX-300 SMR through collaboration on development of a standard design.

A master services agreement was signed by Laurentis Energy Partners - a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of OPG - and OSGE in October 2022 to support the development and deployment of SMRs in Poland. The agreement enabled international collaboration between the two companies, beginning with early project planning.

"OPG has the knowledge and experience managing large energy projects to assist Poland as it begins producing electricity using nuclear power," said OPG President and CEO Ken Hartwick. "Along with Ontario's strong nuclear supply chain, we are well-positioned to help others increase their energy security and meet climate change goals."

"OPG is our key strategic partner," said OSGE CEO Rafał Kasprów. "We recognise the company's experience in the nuclear industry as well as its determination and progress in deploying the first BWRX-300. We benefit from the experience of the Darlington New Nuclear Project, and we are pleased that we can use the organisation's knowledge and support to deploy BWRX-300 reactors in Poland more efficiently.

"Working together to develop an operating organisation for the SMR fleet in Poland is the next step, with the possibility to expand into the UK as well as other parts of the European Union. We are looking forward to doing so with such a reputable partner."

Darlington site preparation

On 31 October last year, OPG submitted an application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a licence to construct a BWRX-300 at the Darlington site. This licence is required before any nuclear construction work on the SMR can begin. However, site preparation work is already under way at the site. OPG expects to make a construction decision by the end of 2024 and has set a preliminary target date of 2028 for plant operations.

The BWRX-300 is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems that leverages the design and licensing basis of GEH's ESBWR boiling water reactor. The CNSC issued a positive decision in March, making the BWRX-300 the first SMR to complete such a pre-licensing Vendor Design Review in Canada.

OSGE plans to deploy a fleet of the BWRX-300 reactors in Poland, with the first unit ready before the end of this decade. For OSGE, OPG's Darlington SMR project is a reference project. In April, OSGE named seven shortlisted locations for further geological surveys to site SMRs. The company has applied to the Polish government for a Decision in Principle on six of the sites. It is now working through the regulatory process.

"The most modern nuclear solutions in the world will soon be developed in Canada and Poland," Prime Minister Morawiecki said. "This is a milestone in ensuring a stable source of energy supplies for Poland. This, in turn, is the basis for healthy, good and fast economic development for our country."

Expanding intergovernmental cooperation

"Both Canada and Poland are committed to the development of clean and renewable energy technologies that will foster energy security, advance our shared climate objectives, and lead to new commercial opportunities, including in off-shore wind," Morawiecki and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a joint statement.

"A particular area of focus for Poland is support for the development of civilian nuclear power. In this context, Canada and Poland are pleased to announce the launch of negotiations on a bilateral Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) which will supplement the existing Canada-Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) NCA by enhancing trade and cooperation in the area of nuclear technologies, including technologies related to small modular reactors."

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Grossi to lead IAEA mission to Zaporizhzhia next week

07 June 2023

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is to lead the latest rotation of its experts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant next week. It comes as the IAEA and nuclear experts in Ukraine and in Russia say there is no short-term risk to its safety and security as a result of the damaged Nova Kakhovka dam.

It is estimated that there is enough water on site to last for months (Image: IAEA)

The dam was damaged early on Tuesday, prompting widespread flooding and evacuations. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - Ukraine and Europe's largest - is about 140 kilometres upstream from the dam so not in an area directly affected by flooding. But the damage has led to a fall in the level of the reservoir, which is used to supply cooling water to the plant.

In its latest update the IAEA reported that between 10:00 and 20:00 local time on Tuesday the reservoir fell by 83cm to 15.44 metres. If the level falls below 12.7 metres the plant will not be able to pump water to replenish its water at the site. It is an evolving situation, but that level could be reached within a day or two, the IAEA says.

However, this sort of fall in the reservoir levels is a scenario which has been planned for, including in stress tests carried out after the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami and also by Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom, at the request of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), over the past winter. According to the head of SNRIU, Oleg Korikov, the measures outlined meant that the reservoir's lower water level "should not affect the state of nuclear and radiation safety of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, provided that these measures are implemented" and with the reactors remaining in their current shutdown state, which means a lot less cooling water is required.

In its update the IAEA said that, even when water levels are too low for the usual pumping system to operate, "the existing water in the ZNPP site’s sprinkler and cooling ponds as well as the adjacent channels can still be used for some time to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools in the reactor buildings ... In addition, a large cooling pond next to the site - the main alternative source of water in the absence of the reservoir - is currently full and has enough in storage to supply the plant for several months as its six reactors are in shutdown mode".

"Also, if needed, the site can access a deep water-filled excavation in the ZNPP cargo port area, the water system of the nearby city of Energodar, and use mobile pumps and firefighter trucks to fetch water," it adds.

Restrictions on the use of water have been brought in to focus it on essential safety and cooling functions. Grossi added: "There is a preparedness for events like this ... which will help staff to handle this new challenging situation. But, clearly, this is making an already very difficult and unpredictable nuclear safety and security situation even more so."

Russia's Tass news agency reported a spokesman for the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences as saying "the water level in the reservoir supplying cooling water to the reactors is at a sufficient level and is being monitored. We are keeping a close eye on the situation ...  the plant’s employees are in control of the situation."

Meanwhile Renat Karchaa, adviser to the CEO of Russia's Rosenergoatom, told Tass that the number of IAEA inspectors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "will increase several times", confirming Grossi's comments to reporters earlier this week (before the dam was breached) that he wanted to "reinforce" and increase the size of the team, to reflect their wider reporting responsibilities in monitoring the five safety principles outlined at the UN last week.

Grossi had said he was not sure when the enlargement of the team would take place and that it might be at the next rotation - which he has said he will lead, and which will take place next week. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed the situation at the plant with the IAEA director general, and agreed with Grossi on visiting Ukraine in the coming days.

In a separate development, the IAEA said that its experts at the Chernobyl site have reported a forest fire near the Paryshev village in an area not reachable from the Chernobyl side because of damage to a bridge. It is not assessed to be a major fire and, the IAEA says, "there has been no increase in the radiation levels reported to the IAEA International Radiation Monitoring Information System and the fire does not present any radiological risk to the population or staff working at the Chernobyl site".

IAEA: 'No immediate risk' to Zaporizhzhia from dam damage

06 June 2023

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the impact of the damage to the dam on cooling water supplies to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is being monitored but alternative sources of water on-site should provide sufficient water for cooling "for some months" and means "our current assessment is that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant".

Water is essential for cooling functions. This picture was taken in March during an IAEA visit to the plant (Image: IAEA)

In an update to the IAEA board of governors on Tuesday morning, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam - which Ukraine says was caused by the Russian shelling, and Russia blames on Ukraine - had led to a "significant reduction in the level of the reservoir used to supply cooling water" to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The cooling water system at the plant is used for residual heat removal from the reactors (used or partially used fuel there), residual heat removal from the used fuel ponds and cooling of emergency diesel generators if and when they are running.

"Absence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the emergency diesel generators," Grossi said.

IAEA staff at the plant have been told that at the moment there is a 5cm per hour reduction in the height of the reservoir, "the main line of cooling water is fed from the reservoir and pumped up through channels near the thermal power plant to the site. It is estimated that the water through this route should last for a few days".

The water level in the reservoir was about 16.4 metres at 08:00 local time - with the IAEA saying that if the level drops below 12.7 metres it can no longer be pumped. The damaged dam itself is about 140km downstream of the nuclear power plant.

There are also alternative sources of water, Grossi said: "A main one is the large cooling pond next to the site that by design is kept above the height of the reservoir. As the reactors have been shut down for many months it is estimated that this pond will be sufficient to provide water for cooling for some months. The agency will confirm this very shortly. It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact. Nothing must be done to potentially undermine its integrity.

"I call on all sides to ensure nothing is done to undermine that."

The IAEA team at the site say that the nuclear power plant is "making all efforts to pump as much water into its cooling channels and related systems as possible" and non-essential consumption of water stopped.

He said that he already planned to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant next week "and now it is essential. I will go".

The damage to the dam, which is in a Russian-controlled region, has led to severe flooding and mass evacuations. According to the Russian Tass news agency as of 09:30 GMT on Tuesday, "14 settlements with a population of 22,000 people have come within the flooding area ... and a total of about 80 villages may be inundated". According to Ukrinform, at 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT) the water level in the reservoir had dropped by 1.5 metres.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Ukraine, and Europe, with six reactors. It has been under Russian military control since early March 2022. Five of its six reactors are in cold shutdown and one in warm shutdown - which allows it to provide heat for the plant and the nearby city of Energodar. As it is upstream of the reservoir it is not in the areas at risk of flooding.

A failure of the Nova Kakhovka dam caused by an earthquake was a scenario examined in post-Fukushima Daiichi safety checks of the Zaporizhzhia plant, in particular the possibility of water loss in the cooling pond, and concluded that "owing to the significant width of the cooling pond levee ... water losses because of filtering will remain actually unchanged in comparison with the design-basis conditions".

Sama Bilbao y León, director general of World Nuclear Association, welcomed the fact the nuclear power plant "remains in a safe, stable situation" despite the damage to the dam, adding: "The analysis and planning done in preparing the plant’s safety case, including revisions carried out as part of the plant’s stress tests, have ensured the plant is both robust and prepared to handle challenges, such as those resulting from the rupture of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.

"I condemn outright the deliberate attack on the dam. Beyond the disruption to operations at Zaporizhzhia, the attack has caused a threat to life for the thousands of residents downstream of the dam, as well as the destruction of property and farmland, and environmental damage."

IAEA aims to expand team at Zaporizhzhia

05 June 2023

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has said he hopes to "reinforce" the agency's team of experts at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to reflect its expanded role which includes monitoring compliance with the five safety and security principles outlined at the United Nations last week.

(Photo: D. Calma/IAEA)

In his statement to the IAEA board of governors, Grossi said he had "respectfully and solemnly asked both sides to observe" the five principles - which include agreement not to fire from, or at, the nuclear power plant, or to use it as a base for military personnel or equipment that could be used for an attack.

He said: "They are to no-one’s detriment and to everyone's benefit ... the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ), will report to me, in my capacity as director general, on the observance of these principles, and I will report publicly on any violations of them."

At a news conference following his statement to the board, Grossi was asked when the team at the Zaporizhzhia plant was to be expanded. He said the precise timing was not the key thing, as the "wider mission" was now already in place but his aim was to reinforce the team, and enlarge it, perhaps at the next rotation of staff.

Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, and Europe, and is on the frontline of Russian and Ukrainian forces. The wider site has been damaged by shelling at times over the past 16 months of war and it has also had to rely on emergency diesel generators on seven occasions when it has lost its external power supply.

Grossi said: "The site’s fragile power situation continues to be a source of deep concern and - as the newly-established IAEA principles indicate - there is a need for intensified efforts to ensure a more stable and predictable external electricity supply."

The plant currently relies on one 750 kilovolt power line for the external electricity it needs for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions, compared with the four off-site power lines available before the conflict.

The nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant operates the 330 kV open switchyard, through which back-up power has been supplied in the past and Russia told the IAEA in March that Rosatom was working to remove damaged equipment from the open switchyard, "with the aim of restoring three 330 kV lines to the grid system in currently Russian-controlled territory" but, the IAEA said, its experts have still not been granted access to assess the situation and "consultations are ongoing to secure the access".

In his broader update to the IAEA board of governors, Grossi said EUR5 million (USD5.35 million) of nuclear safety and security equipment had been delivered to Ukraine and so far 81 of its experts in 37 missions had been part of one of the rotations at the country's five nuclear sites.

On safeguards to avoid nuclear proliferation, he said that the AUKUS plan - involving the USA and UK - for Australia to get nuclear-powered submarines was "of considerable interest and, for some, concern" and he said the "Secretariat has engaged in consultations with the states concerned to consider the possible implications on the application of agency safeguards. Such arrangements must be in strict conformity with the existing legal framework and, once they are finalised, will be transmitted to the Board of Governors for appropriate action. This process will take some time and the agency will undertake it with its technical, impartial and objective approach."

On Iran, in response to questions from reporters, Grossi rejected the suggestion that safeguards had been "watered down" and insisted that the IAEA was "firm but fair". On North Korea, he said: "The reopening of the nuclear test site is deeply troubling. The conduct of a nuclear test would contravene UN Security Council resolutions and would be a cause for serious concern."

He said that his recent, first official, trip to China had led to the establishment in Beijing of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Centre. "The centre will be a place for Member States to cooperate and share knowledge on fundamental topics such as ensuring radiation safety, transporting nuclear waste and promoting capacity-building. This visit was of fundamental importance as we enhance our bilateral work in the context of China’s fast-growing civil nuclear programme," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, the Rays of Hope cancer initiative "is gaining momentum" raising approximately EUR37 million in the past year, but there were still funding gaps that need to be filled with 60 member states identifying additional estimated priority needs of EUR36 million.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

 

Canadian ILWU Calls Strike Vote for West Coast Container Ports

Vancouver is Canada's primary gateway with Asia (file photo)

PUBLISHED JUN 6, 2023 5:12 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Canada’s International Longshore and Warehouse Union yesterday, June 5, posted a notice that it will conduct a strike authorization vote among its members at the end of this week. The union which represents 7,200 dockworkers at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert has been taking an aggressive stance in its contract negotiations having declared in March days before the previous five-year contract expired that they were already at an impasse with the BC Maritime Employers Association.

The threat of a strike that Canada’s two gateway ports with Asia raise further concerns for shippers as the disruptions continue at the U.S. West Coast ports. The two Canadian ports, which experienced the same issues with backlogs and delays due to increased volumes during the pandemic, however, present an alternative route, especially for American shippers looking to bring cargo into the U.S. Midwest. There are direct rail links that can route cargo from the Canadian coast to Chicago and beyond. Similarly, Canadian shippers could look to the neighboring U.S. ports such as Seattle to provide an alternative route.

The ILWU scheduled a two-day vote on June 8 and 9 for the strike authorization but under the current process it would be barred from stating a strike before June 24 at the earliest. The negotiation conciliation process overseen by the Canadian federal government ended on May 30.

The process for the contract renewal began in November 2022 with the first filing under Canadian Labor Law to negotiate a new collective agreement. The previous contract took 18 months to negotiate between the ILWU and the 49 private-sector employers at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.  The first meetings did not get underway till February 2023 and less than a month later the ILWU called for the conciliation process saying that there was no meaningful progress in the talks.

The federal government appointed two mediators to oversee the discussions which ran till the end of May. Under Canadian law, both sides are barred for an additional 21-day cooling-off period from taking any actions. After that, they would have to file a notice either for a strike or lockout and that requires at least 72-hour notice.

Like their American counterparts, the Canadian talks are centering on wages as well as issues related to automation. Both ports are seeking to expand their capacity with Vancouver also recently receiving a government consent decision in a long-running effort to build a new fourth terminal. 

The employers and the union have declined to make specific comments on the issues, sticking points, or status of the negotiations. Estimates are that the West Coast ports handle nearly C$300 billion worth of cargo annually (US$225 billion) with analysts saying that a strike would have major implications for the economy both in British Columbia and at the federal level while disrupting the supply chain across Canada.

Canada's surprise hike exposes global struggle to find endpoint for rates

Erik Hertzberg, Bloomberg News  June 7.2023

The Bank of Canada’s decision to resume raising interest rates shook global bond markets and underscored the difficult task faced by central banks as they try to slow economic activity and tamp down inflation.

Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem increased the benchmark overnight rate to 4.75 per cent, ending a pause they declared in January after Canada’s economy proved surprisingly strong despite much higher borrowing costs.

The central bank said the economy is running too hot to bring inflation back to its 2 per cent target, citing robust consumer demand for goods and services and a pickup in housing activity. But Canada’s situation isn’t unique — and it may be the case that other central banks, including the Federal Reserve, will have to push rates deeper into restrictive territory this time around.

 “Usually what happens in Canada, nobody in the U.S. cares,” Fidelity Investments portfolio manager David Wolf, a former adviser to the Bank of Canada, said on BNN Bloomberg Television. “But in this case, I think people are taking the message that maybe all of these central banks aren’t as close to done as people would have thought.”

The yield on 2-year U.S. Treasuries jumped as high 4.6 per cent, while comparable Canadian government bonds now boast the highest yield since 2007. Traders briefly fully priced in a Fed hike by July.

The Bank of Canada’s decision didn’t include much forward-looking language, suggesting officials have jumped back into hiking mode without any certainty about where borrowing costs will ultimately end up. 

And while some economists have given Macklem kudos for a quick restart, the rate move is also a tacit acknowledgment that policymakers paused prematurely. Rates are likely headed higher in Canada than previously thought necessary by most observers — and by the bank itself.

It’s a vindication for economists such as Citigroup Inc.’s Veronica Clark, the first analyst in a Bloomberg survey to predict a rate hike this week. “The Bank of Canada did pause. They waited to see how the data were coming in. They were expecting activity and inflation to slow and it didn’t,” she said Wednesday by phone. 

But by moving to the sidelines, the central bank also helped Canada’s housing market find a floor and start to rebound, she said. “It’s a bit of a cautionary tale for the Fed to be pausing too.” 

Other analysts see lessons for investors as they gauge what a potential pause in the U.S. tightening cycle might mean. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his officials, who are now in a blackout period ahead of next week’s decision, seem intent on skipping a rate increase, while explaining to the public that they’re not done yet. 

“We have seen two central bank surprises this week in Australia and Canada. Canaries in the coal mine?” Earl Davis, head of fixed income and money markets at BMO Global Asset Management, said by email. “The U.S. market is coming to the realization that the Fed may surprise as well.”

 

Trudeau shows no interest in compromising with Meta, Google over online news bill

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press June 7,2023

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks briefly with reporters as he makes his way to a cabinet meeting, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing no interest in compromising with Meta and Google over a Liberal bill that would make them pay for Canadian journalism that helps the companies generate revenue.

Trudeau said Wednesday that Meta and Google's bullying tactics will not work with his government, which he says is ensuring those companies do not weaken Canada's democracy by threatening its domestic media industry.

Meta announced last week it will test blocking access to some news for a small percentage of Canadian users of Instagram and Facebook.

The company says it is prepared to permanently end access to news content in Canada if Parliament passes Bill C-18, which would require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing news content.

Google ran a similar test earlier this year, restricting access to news on its search engine for less than four per cent of its Canadian users. It says it is looking for a compromise with the Liberal government. 

"The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians' access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem, and now they're resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way. It's not going to work," Trudeau said at a news conference. 

"We will continue to make sure that these incredibly profitable corporations contribute to strengthening our democracy, not weakening it."

Big publishers have told a Senate committee currently studying the bill that they could lose millions of dollars should their content be blocked by Google and Meta.

The online news bill already passed in the House of Commons and could be approved by the Senate as early as this month. 

If it becomes law, both companies would be required to enter into agreements with news publishers to pay them for news content that appears on their sites if it helps the tech giants generate money.

Both companies have argued that news doesn't generate much revenue for their companies, and are considering ending local news on their platforms altogether. 

Meta says news makes up about three per cent of the content that's on Facebook feeds, and Google says less than two per cent of searches have to do with news, because people care more about recipes than articles. 

Still, each company has proposed amendments in the Senate, including changes to the section of the bill that deals with arbitration and tweaks that would create more certainty around which publishers they would have to enter into agreements with.

For example, Google says that as the bill is currently written, it would have to enter into agreements with community and campus broadcasters, even if they do not produce news content and have no obligation to adhere to a codes of ethics.

Spokesperson Shay Purdy said in a statement Wednesday that the company has come to the table with "reasonable and pragmatic solutions" that would increase the company's investment in Canadian news. 

"We're very concerned about the path we're on and we're doing everything we can to engage constructively and avoid a negative outcome for Canadians."

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has said that the bill is already balanced, and that Meta and Google have his phone number if they want to talk. 

Rodriguez was expected to appear before a Senate committee on Wednesday evening. 

Meta declined a request for comment about the prime minister's remarks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023.

———

Meta funds a limited number of fellowships that support emerging journalists at The Canadian Press.

WORKERS CAPITAL

PSP Investments earned 4.4 per cent return for its latest financial year

The Canadian Press

A man looks over a brochures offering various retirement savings options Friday, February 3, 2012 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board says it earned a 4.4 per cent return for its most recent financial year as it faced a challenging market environment. 

The investment manager says net assets under management grew to $243.7 billion as of March 31, up from $230.5 billion a year earlier, helped by $2.9 billion in net transfers from the federal government and $10.2 billion generated from net income.

PSP Investments says its gains for the year topped its reference portfolio which returned 0.2 per cent.

The results came as the fund's capital markets investments, which includes its public market equities and fixed Income, gained 0.3 per cent, while its private equity holdings returned 3.3 per cent and its credit investments gained 13.1 per cent.

PSP Investments says its real estate holdings returned 0.2 per cent and infrastructure investments gained 19.0 per cent. Natural resources assets returned 10.9 per cent.

The board invests money for the pension plans of the federal public service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2023.

Canadian Pacific guilty of contempt of court around long work shifts

The Canadian Press

June 7,2023

A Federal Court judge has found Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. guilty of contempt of court for employees working excessively long hours.

Over a 10-month period in 2018 and 2019, the rail operator failed in 22 instances to comply with cease-and-desist orders laid out by an arbitrator, the ruling states.

The orders related to rest provisions under federal regulations and a pair of collective agreements for conductors and engineers that largely limit shifts to 10 or 12 hours, depending on the circumstances.

"CP’s own evidence was that 'thousands of situations continue to occur annually where employees are not off within 10 hours,'" Judge Ann Marie McDonald wrote, citing the labour arbitrator.

The railway made no argument that the situations qualified as exceptions spelled out in the collective agreement, the arbitrator said in March 2018.

Teamsters Canada president François Laporte said the company "needs to smarten up and stop putting profits over people before another tragedy occurs."

"Canadian Pacific recklessly puts lives on the line in forcing so many train crews to work longer than allowed," Laporte said in a statement Wednesday.

The Calgary-based company said it was disappointed with the ruling.

"We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and will be filing an appeal," spokesman Patrick Waldron said in an email.

The June 6 decision comes less than two months after a Canadian Pacific freight train went off the tracks due to a washout in Maine that saw locomotives and four derailed lumber cars go up in flames.

The rail line is the same one where the fatal Lac-Mégantic disaster unfolded in 2013. Canadian Pacific did not own the track at the time.

POSTMODERN SEANCE
AI chatbots offer comfort to the bereaved

THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE

New York (AFP) – Staying in touch with a loved one after their death is the promise of several start-ups using the powers artificial intelligence, though not without raising ethical questions.

Ryu Sun-yun sits in front of a microphone and a giant screen, where her husband, who died a few months earlier, appears.

"Sweetheart, it's me," the man on the screen tells her in a video demo. In tears, she answers him and a semblance of conversation begins.

When Lee Byeong-hwal learned he had terminal cancer, the 76-year-old South Korean asked startup DeepBrain AI to create a digital replica using several hours of video.

"We don't create new content" such as sentences that the deceased would have never uttered or at least written and validated during their lifetime, said Joseph Murphy, head of development at DeepBrain AI, about the "Rememory" program.

"I'll call it a niche part of our business. It's not a growth area for us," he cautioned.

The idea is the same for company StoryFile, which uses 92-year-old "Star Trek" actor William Shatner to market its site.

"Our approach is to capture the wonder of an individual, then use the AI tools," said Stephen Smith, boss of StoryFile, which claims several thousand users of its Life service.

Entrepreneur Pratik Desai caused a stir a few months ago when he suggested people save audio or video of "your parents, elders and loved ones," estimating that by "the end of this year" it would be possible to create an autonomous avatar of a deceased person, and that he was working on a project to this end.

The message posted on Twitter set off a storm, to the point where, a few days later, he denied being "a ghoul."

"This is a very personal topic and I sincerely apologize for hurting people," he said.

"It's a very fine ethical area that we're taking with great care," Smith said.

After the death of her best friend in a car accident in 2015, Russian engineer Eugenia Kyuda, who emigrated to California, created a "chatbot" named Roman like her dead friend, which was fed with thousands of text messages he had sent to loved ones.

Two years later Kyuda launched Replika, which offers personalized conversational robots, among the most sophisticated on the market.

But despite the Roman precedent, Replika "is not a platform made to recreate a lost loved one", said a spokeswoman.

'Philosophical'

Somnium Space, based in London, wants to create virtual clones while users are still alive so that they then can exist in a parallel universe after their death.

"It's not for everyone," CEO Artur Sychov conceded in a video posted on YouTube about his product, Live Forever, which he is announcing for the end of the year.

"Do I want to meet my grandfather who's in AI? I don't know. But those who want that will be able to," he added.

Thanks to generative AI, the technology is there to allow avatars of departed loved ones to say things they never said when they were alive.

"I think these are philosophical challenges, not technical challenges," said Murphy of DeepBrainAI.

"I would say that is a line right now that we do not plan on crossing, but who knows what the future holds?" he added.

"I think it can be helpful to interact with an AI version of a person in order to get closure —particularly in situations where grief was complicated by abuse or trauma," Candi Cann, a professor at Baylor University who is currently researching this topic in South Korea.

Mari Dias, a professor of medical psychology at Johnson & Wales University, has asked many of her bereaved patients about virtual contact with their loved ones.

"The most common answer is 'I don't trust AI. I'm afraid it's going to say something I'm not going to accept'... I get the impression that they think they don't have control" over what the avatar does.

© 2023 AFP

Hong Kong's top court to hear appeal on banned Tiananmen vigil

Issued on: 08/06/2023 -

Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong's top court agreed on Thursday to hear an appeal from government prosecutors against a prominent activist for her involvement in a banned Tiananmen Square vigil, challenging a lower court ruling in her favour.

Chow Hang-tung was one of the leaders of a group that organised an annual vigil commemorating the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in China.

The vigil has been banned since 2020, the year that Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong designed to quell dissent.

She was convicted last year of inciting others to defy the ban in 2021, but won a rare victory in December when the High Court ruled in favour of her appeal, saying that police did not properly follow procedure when banning the vigil.

The Department of Justice renewed its efforts against Chow, asking Hong Kong's top court to clarify whether a person accused of defying a government ban on a public gathering can challenge the legality of that ban in court.

The Court of Final Appeal ruled Thursday that the case raised a legal question of "great and general importance" and scheduled a hearing for November 22.

The decision came days after the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on Sunday.

Chow faces further prosecutions, including charges under the national security law that carry sentences of up to a decade in jail.

She was arrested the morning of June 4, 2021, when her articles published on social media and in a newspaper called on residents to "light candles to seek justice for the dead".

At the time, police said that the vigil was banned due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that thousands of officers would be on standby to halt any "unlawful assemblies".

Hong Kong was once the only Chinese city that could commemorate the incident of June 4, 1989, when the government sent troops to crush demonstrations in Tiananmen Square calling for political change.

While the commemoration is forbidden in mainland China, tens of thousands would gather every year in Hong Kong's Victoria Park to hold a candlelight vigil.

But public mourning for the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown has been driven underground since Hong Kong outlawed the vigil in 2020.

On Sunday, the area around Victoria Park saw heavy police presence, with officers searching people and briefly detaining some who carried flowers or held a candle -- which were taken as signs of mourning.

Vanished, Shot, Murdered: Laos Activists Spooked By Spate Of Incidents


By Rose TROUP BUCHANAN

June 7, 2023

A spate of incidents involving government critics has sparked fears of a crackdown in Laos

An isolated murder, a brutal attempted killing and a murky disappearance: Laotian activists have been caught up in a series of alarming recent incidents that have spooked the reclusive communist state's embattled dissident community.

Landlocked, poor and deeply tied to China, Laos is one of the world's most repressive countries, with independent civil society barely present, free media non-existent and rare protests quickly dispersed.


Now a spate of incidents involving government critics has sparked fears of a crackdown as the country gears up to take the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year.

The latest wave of incidents began in late April when a gunman shot campaigner Anousa "Jack" Luangsuphom in the head and body in a brazen attack at a Vientiane cafe.


The 25-year-old was an admin for a popular Facebook page where users shared memes, jokes and their dissatisfaction with the government.

"They were very scared when they saw what happened," exiled Laotian dissident Joseph Akaravong said of the activist community.

"It shows that the Lao government is afraid to see people activating to demand rights and freedoms in Laos," he told AFP from France, where he was granted asylum in 2022.

Last year, Anousa received an anonymous death threat and a warning to leave the country, according to one person with knowledge of events.

Many of those who spoke to AFP did so on condition of anonymity, citing fears for their safety, or that the Laotian government would ban them from working in the country.

In the days after Anousa's shooting, the state news agency published shocking, graphic CCTV footage of the attack as the news spread.

Miraculously he survived -- though his family initially said he was dead to deter the gunman from returning to finish him off -- and he is now being treated abroad.

Less than two weeks later, activist Savang Phaleuth disappeared into police custody on May 9 after returning to Laos from Thailand, where he had been living and working for 16 years.

Rights groups say the police have not informed Savang's family of the charges against him or allowed them to visit.

Then, on May 16, Bounsuan Kitiyano was found dead in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province on the Laotian border, shot three times and dumped in a forest.

Both Savang and Bounsuan belonged to the Free Lao group, which advocates for democracy and has staged protests outside the country's Bangkok embassy.

There is no proven link between the Laos government and either attack, and investigators in both Anousa's shooting and Bounsuan's killing have suggested personal disputes may be to blame.


But rights groups say the three incidents fit a disturbing and long-running pattern of harm coming to those who criticise or resist the regime.

"It is very clear that there is an ongoing effort to wipe out Laos critics and activists in Thailand," said Andrea Giorgetta, of the International Federation for Human Rights.


Rights groups say the recent incidents fit a long-running pattern of harm coming to those who criticise or resist the regime

He told AFP that while this repression had been going on for years -- citing the environmental campaigner Sombath Somphone, who vanished in 2012 -- a change seemed to be under way.

"There is definitely an escalation of measures that are being used to target dissidents," he said.

"From detentions and deportations, you see outright killings."

Ten human rights organisations -- including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch -- issued a joint statement urging Bangkok and Vientiane to investigate Bounsuan's killing, noting "a recurring targeting of human rights defenders affiliated with Free Lao".

Other Free Lao members to be targeted include Od Sayavong and his housemate, who vanished in 2019, as well as Somphone Phimmasone, Soukane Chaithad and Lodkham Thammavong -- all arrested in 2016.

"Under this repressive climate, these human rights defenders who fled their country continue to live in fear of being targeted for exercising their human rights," the statement said.

AFP made multiple attempts to contact the Laotian foreign ministry, information ministry and embassy in Bangkok for comment, but got no response.

Laos is set to lead ASEAN next year, and some observers suggest Vientiane could be trying to clean house before the country takes the international spotlight.

"Lao authorities may be trying to get rid of activists ahead of being under high scrutiny next year," said Emilie Pradichit, of the regional human rights group Manushya Foundation.


Others point to new Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, who pledged in December to tackle the tanking economy and "raise the spirit of the revolution to the highest level".

"The increased violence against Lao activists is to suppress any dissenting voice that would undermine the new PM's authority and image," said Pradchit.

As another international expert based in Laos put it: "Once in a while, an example is made and that serves to show people what the limits are."