AECL marks 60 years by opening its door to the public, first in 12 years

AECL marks 60 years by opening its door to the public, first in 12 years! http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/2012/08/12/aecl-marks-60-years ..."The birthplace of Canada's nuclear industry welcomed back the community Saturday to celebrate six decades as a crown corporation.
For the first time in 12 years, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited opened the doors of Chalk River Laboratories to the public presenting an opportunity for area resident to not only celebrate its storied past but gain insight into its future.
Despite overcast skies and the occasional rain shower, over 2,000 people attended the open house which presented an exhibition of 50 displays and lectures by professionals in the nuclear energy field.
Joined by dignitaries, Dr. Robert Walker, president and chief executive officer of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, formally thanked residents for supporting Renfrew County's second largest employer noting that the work they are engaged in here matters to Canadians.
"We've had a strong and deep history in nuclear technology in this country and this has been the birthplace," said Dr. Walker. "It continues. That was the past and we're building into the future."
While Chalk River Laboratories was forged out of necessity to develop the atomic bomb during the closing days of the Second World War, AECL was formally established as a crown corporation in 1952. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Nuclear Power Demonstration, the nation's inaugural nuclear powered reactor, generating electricity to the provincial grid for the first time. AECL also commemorates the CANDU reactor at Pickering going online thus producing more electricity than any nuclear power station in the world at that time."