There is no nuclear material at the General Fusion Inc. in Burnaby, and no threat to the safety of area residents, according to Burnaby's director of planning.
Basil Luksun, fire chief Shaun Redmond, and director of engineering Lambert Chu visited the facility at 106 3680 Bonneville Place in Burnaby, and were satisfied it is safe.
"As far we're concerned, the operations do not pose any risk to its neighbours or the surrounding community whatsoever," Luksun said.
This is because the scientists at General Fusion are in the very early research stages and are only building component parts that could be used in a fusion generator.
"There is no fusion energy at the site," Luksun said, "so there are certainly no dangerous materials, no generation or test of fusion energy at the site."
General Fusion was at the centre of a controversy this week after a nuclear theorist at the University of British Columbia, Erich Vogt, told CBC News the work being done by General Fusion wasn't just unrealistic, it was dangerous, and people could be hurt.
General Fusion is working to create a nuclear fusion power plant, but the work is in the early research stages.
This type of research works well with other work being done in Burnaby, Luksun said, and suppliers in Burnaby and the region have made many of the component parts.
"We know what is being done right now is research and the design of component parts," he added.
If the company gets to the point of being able to test the generator, and any nuclear reaction is involved, it would need approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Luksun pointed out, adding the commission isn't at all involved at this point.
Nuclear fusion is described by General Fusion as "a process in which hydrogen atoms are fused together to form helium. The reaction releases significant amounts of heat, which can be used to generate electricity using traditional steam turbines."
It is the opposite of nuclear fission, the uranium-intensive but much easier process presently used in the generation of nuclear power and atomic bombs.
The best part is that the hydrogen isotopes (read: atoms with more or fewer neutrons than their stable counterparts) needed to fuel nuclear fusion can be derived from seawater.
Mayor Derek Corrigan asked city staff to tour the facility and check on the safety issues after the story came out.
Michael Delage, General Fusion's vice-president of business development, said the tour went well and the city's concerns were addressed.
"Everything's fine," he said. "We've got our business license, there are no issues for the fire department, there are no safety concerns, and there's no story."
The work going on at the facility involves mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, Delage explained.
"There's no chance of explosions," he said. "There's no nuclear work going on here at all."
The issue has been brought forward by one scientist, Vogt, who has spoken to physics publications in the past about the project, saying it is unrealistic and a waste of investor's dollars, Delage said.
But the investors have done due diligence and spoken to leading fusion experts from around the world, who have countered those claims, according to Delage.
The company would have liked to have his support, but he has refused to come and tour the facility and speak with them, he added.
"It's disappointing," he said. "He's been a real leader in the physics community in British Columbia for a long time."
Fusion is the long-run answer to energy problems on the planet, Delage said.
"It's clean it's safe," he said. "The opportunity here is to replace fossil fuels with a clean energy source.
The company is about 10 years away from building the power plant itself, according to Delage.
"It's early days," he said, adding the company is focusing on building individual components at this stage. "It's going reasonably well."
