Community Matters: Nuclear industry has lost a gentle giant

The nuclear industry lost a gentle giant last month with the sudden passing of Frank Saunders who was Bruce Power’s vice-president, nuclear oversight and regulatory affairs for almost two decades, and one of the company’s founding executives.

Frank was settling into semi-retirement after leaving his executive position with the company at the end of 2019, and there’s sadness for his wife, Sherrill, his children, Stacey and Jason, his grandson, Connor – and his dogs - that he left them far too soon.

Frank had many, many friends in the nuclear industry and played a pivotal role in the early days of the Nuclear Innovation Institute – our joint venture with the County of Bruce – not only as president but in convincing other nuclear companies to invest in the institute to help get it off the ground.

It wasn’t a hard sell because everyone in our business held Frank in the highest regard. He was smart, genuine and always brought out the best in people.

As everyone who lives in our region knows, nuclear energy isn’t everyone’s preferred source of electricity, so it needs calm, cool voices as advocates. That was Frank.

At an open house many years ago in northern Alberta – where Bruce Power was considering the potential of introducing nuclear to the province’s energy mix – Frank faced a less-than-welcoming audience that had been receiving a steady diet of misinformation from anti-nuclear groups.

With his warm smile and folksy nature, Frank answered every question and did so in a plain-speaking way that earned the respect of everyone in the room that evening.

Frank’s style didn’t impress only newcomers to nuclear.

“I remember sitting with him for five straight days in our 10-year licence hearing and he never ceased to bring clarity or discussion on a variety of topics, and at the end it was a success,” said our president and chief executive officer, Mike Rencheck. “He had a sense of wit throughout and was humble in his demeanor.”

“He approached each issue with a calmness that I have always found strengthened my confidence in our path forward,” said chief engineer Gary Newman. “As such, much of the success of our program over the past 10 years has been due to his thoughtful oversight and involvement."

A New Brunswick native, who was also a commissioned officer in the Canadian military, Frank worked at four different nuclear facilities in his distinguished career and was a sought-after expert voice not only in Canada but in the global nuclear community. He was particularly proud of Bruce Power’s reputation in all things safety, the environment, security, emergency response and emergency preparedness.

Last year, Frank was recognized by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group, receiving its highest honour, the John Jenkins Award, for outstanding lifetime achievement. The award recognized Frank’s work, advocating for the development and use of CSA nuclear standards and improving the overall value of CSA’s nuclear standards program.

We will miss him.

As always, you can message me on Twitter at @jscongack or send an E-mail to james.scongack@brucepower.com.