The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that external experts looking into the unexpectedly rapid deterioration of key components in nuclear power reactors have concluded that the plants can operate safely. The Globe's Matthew McClearn writes that external advisory committee on pressure tubes was convened in the summer of 2021 to help the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission after the discovery of high levels of deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) in pressure tubes at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, violating the terms of its operating licence. After two years, the committee agreed with all the conclusions previously arrived at by industry representatives and commission staff. In a final report published without fanfare last month, the committee declared that while "a great deal of work" remains to be done to understand the problem's cause, "enough has been done by the licensees to definitively provide assurance that the plants can operate safely." The final report is a boon for Bruce Power, which has an application before the CNSC seeking to remove limits in its operating licence. Pressure tubes are often referred to as the heart of Candus, the reactor design found in Canada's nuclear power plants.