"...I became chronologically fucked-up"

Note the title is from the Tragically Hip's "Locked in the Trunk of a Car"

In my case it refers to the effect of switching to nights (7pm-7am) for 3 days, and now trying to get back to a more civilized circadian rhythm, or whatever. I finished the run of nights this morning, came home, ate, went to bed for a few hours, got up, and have been in a mild daze since. I'd just adapted to being asleep at this time, and here I am trying to get back in sync with the rest of the world again. My sense of what time it is is totally shot. Not wrong, just gone; like it simply gave up and left. Occasionally I have to remind myself, "This is Tuesday, right?" But I have time to adjust before going back to work on Friday morning. Then four day of days, and try to switch back to nights. Repeat until collapse.

Politics over Safety (and logic).

For the last couple of months there has been quite a stir in the Canadian nuclear world. The Chalk River reactor, the main source for medical isotopes, shut down for maintenance in November. The CNSC (the body responsible for overseeing nuclear safety in Canada) refused to let it start up again when it turned out that the owner (Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd) had failed to complete safety upgrades in the 50 year old reactor. The upgrades were a condition of their operating license. The CNSC's obligation was to deny permission to start up again without these upgrades. They are responsible for safety, not medical supplies. They have clear regulations regarding this. And they are meant to operate without political interference.
So when supplies of medical isotopes became short, literally decaying away, in steps our Conservative government and passes legislation to restart the reactor despite the missing upgrades. And note that the Liberals went along with this. The minister of natural resources aimed the blame directly at CNSC president Linda Keen, claiming her stubbornness put the lives of medical patients at risk, and that since she was appointed by the previous Liberal government her decision was politically motivated.
Also be aware that the two new reactors intended as replacements for this aging one are 8 years behind schedule, and may never start up! Where were the ministers (first the Liberal, and then the current one)? Why weren't they investigating this delay?
I know in my workplace two of the key values they work hard to instill in employees are conservative (not in the political sense) decision making and adherence to procedures (rules). These are critical to a culture of safety in the nuclear industry. From what I've seen, Linda Keen was working to these values. She was doing her job properly.
Who fucked up? AECL, the last two ministers of natural resources, and the prime minister who fired Ms. Keen yesterday.
There has been much talk of a nuclear "renaissance". If this is going to happen, safety is primary. For that we need a credible regulator, free to do their job properly regardless of who looks bad because of it. PM Harper destroyed that credibility last night. As my friend B said today, "Harper just shot the Canadian nuclear industry in the head."

How do you compete against these people?!

Ok, it's no secret that I work in the nuclear power industry, and so I could be accused of some pro-nuke bias, but I saw this newspaper article that just amazed me with it's excessive anti-nuke slant. It was an AP story printed in the Prince George (B.C.) Citizen. The story is about a small radioactive water leak in a nuclear station in Ohio.
A couple of quotes from the story: "The amount of water from the pipe was so small when discovered Friday that it was not quantified in the report...", "It involved water from the reactor, so it is radioactive water but it is within the containment building and nothing was released. Our workers were not affected," he said.
Ok, so there's a very small leak, inside the containment structure. Sounds like only a minor hazard, nothing to freak about. But the thing that got me was the headline: "N-plant leaking into Lake Erie". Factually contradicted by the story itself, and clearly just used to grab attention. Hell, why not call it "Ultra dangerous, hyper-nuclear, death klabooie!!!"

Quality time.

I just returned from taking Spousal-Unit back to her apartment so she can continue with school and work next week. She was able to arrange a week off to come here and visit with me and the furry folks. Unfortunately, just before coming here, she picked up a flu/cold thing from her sister and spent the first part of the week feeling miserable. We had to postpone a get-together with B-meister and his wife W. We figured a couple of days delay while spouse recovers, no big deal. Then, of course, I get sick. I spent the last half of the week feeling like warmed-over snail snot, with an oozing, goo-packed cranium and the effective I.Q. of a pro wrestling fan. Quote of the week: "uungghgghh...." (with appropriate nasal honk). I had to miss 2 days of work, which is now actually something I miss. Sadly we had to pass on B and W's invitation, which we had been looking forward to. When Spouse spoke to B on the phone he seemed upset, perhaps offended by this. I'll have to speak with him and apologize, but I simply didn't feel right going to their place, spreading microbes to them and their offspring, and staring at the wall in a medication induced stupor.

So, overall the week was not everything we had hoped for. But at least we were together.