Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

The CNSC's official mandate under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act involves the four following major areas:

• regulation of the development, production, and use of nuclear energy in Canada to protect health, safety, and the environment
• regulation of the production, possession, use, and transport of nuclear substances, and the production, possession, and use of prescribed equipment and prescribed information
• implementation of measures respecting international control of the development, production, transport, and use of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices
• dissemination of scientific, technical, and regulatory information concerning the activities of the CNSC, and the effects on the environment, on the health and safety of persons, of the development, production, possession, transport, and use of nuclear substances[1]

The regulatory system is intended to protect people and the environment from human-made radiation resulting from the use of nuclear energy and materials at licensed sites. This is attempted through licensing processes where licensees are expected to prove that their operations adhere to regulatory standards. At the basis of the regulatory system is the principle that no technology is fail proof, so licensees must incorporate multiple layers of protection whenever radioactive materials are used.

The CNSC is responsible for implementing measures to ensure that Canada's international obligations are met with respect to activities related to nuclear and radioactive materials. This includes Canada's safeguards obligations pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The CNSC also licences the import, export, and transportation of nuclear materials and other prescribed substances, equipment, technology, and dual-use items. The highest-ranking member of the Commission is designated by the Governor in Council to be the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's President and Chief Executive Officer. The President holds office as a Commission member on a full-time basis. The Commission Tribunal establishes legally-binding regulations governing the use of nuclear materials pursuant to the Nuclear Safety and Control Act.

The Commission Tribunal is supported by a secretariat of more than 800 employees. The role of CNSC staff is to protect health, safety, security, and the environment by monitoring and inspecting licensed activities. CNSC staff evaluate the performance of nuclear power plants and also contribute to the development of international nuclear regulatory standards and nuclear non-proliferation fora.[2]

The Commission is an independent administrative tribunal set up at arm's length from government, with no ties to the nuclear industry.

The Commission makes its decisions transparently, guided by clear rules of procedures. Interested parties and members of the public are able to be heard at Public Commission Hearings which are webcast live and often held in facility host communities to make them as accessible as possible for local residents.

The Commission provides extensive reasons for its decisions, which are based on information that includes public input as well as the recommendations of expert CNSC staff.

The Participant Funding Program (PFP) was established in 2010 to give the public, Aboriginal groups and other stakeholders the opportunity to request funding from the CNSC to participate in its regulatory processes.

The PFP demonstrates the CNSC's continued commitment to meaningful public and Aboriginal participation in nuclear review processes while strengthening regulatory performance and protecting the environment.

PFP objectives are:

• to enhance Aboriginal, public, and stakeholder participation in the CNSC environmental assessment (EA) and licensing process
• to help stakeholders bring valuable information to the commission through informed and topic-specific interventions related to aspects of environmental assessments and licensing

In 2014, the CNSC launched the Independent Environmental Monitoring Program (IEMP). The IEMP aims to verify that the public and environment around licensed nuclear facilities are safe, helping to confirm their regulatory position and decision making.

The IEMP involves independent sampling of publicly accessible areas around nuclear facilities in all segments of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mines and mills, processing facilities, nuclear power plants, research and medical isotope production facilities, and waste management facilities.

CNSC staff take samples from public areas such as parks, residential communities, and beaches. Samples may be of air, water, soil, sediment, plants or local foods. They are tested for radiological and non-radiological contaminants at the CNSC Laboratory and analyzed by CNSC specialists using best industry practices. Contaminant levels in samples are compared to applicable guidelines and natural background levels to confirm that the public is safe and that no health impacts are expected.

The data is then published on an interactive dashboard on the CNSC website. The dashboard displays a map and a table with clickable icons showing sampling locations and results for different contaminants.

The IEMP does not relieve licensees of their responsibilities, they must continue to be responsible for their own environmental responsibilities and protection programs. The CNSC still strictly verifies compliance through activities that include regular inspections and reviews of environmental protection programs and compliance reports.

Between the 3rd and 13 September 2019, the CNSC hosted the Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission, which enabled the Commission to assess its regulatory activities and infrastructure against international standards and best practices.[3]

CNSC was established in 2000 under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act. CNSC was created to replace the former Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB, Régie de energie atomique), which was founded in 1946.

In November 2007, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), acting upon the advice of the CNSC that it was in violation of its site operating licence for Chalk River Laboratories (CRL), voluntarily chose to extend a routine shutdown of the NRU nuclear reactor pending completion of safety upgrades. The issue involved two of NRU's eight coolant pumps which, upon completion of several safety upgrades, would be credited as being able to withstand severe external hazards such as a major earthquake. Before and after the awarding of CRL's October 2006 operating licence to CRL, AECL reported that these two pumps had not yet been connected to a seismically-qualified backup power supply (separate from NRU's normal backup power supplies); however, in November 2007, this fact was recognized by the CNSC as evidence of a licence violation, leading AECL to extend the NRU's maintenance shutdown until the seismically-qualified backup power connection could be completed. These two pumps are the last line of defence in the event of an earthquake or other primary power system failure in order to continue to provide cooling to the reactor fuel and prevent a meltdown of the reactor core.

The extended shutdown created a shortage of medical radioisotopes, of which Canada produced about 60 per cent of the world's supply. CNSC required that a safety case be made, as per its mandate, to modify AECL's licence in order to allow it to operate the NRU reactor with a single pump connected to seismically qualified backup power supplies. AECL's submission was not accepted by the CNSC.

Parliament passed emergency legislation[4] overriding the CNSC's ruling on the issue of the two pumps at NRU, winning all-party support to order the reactor to be restarted, and NRU resumed operations on December 16, 2007. This was a controversial decision because the CNSC was established as an independent regulator, even though it is ultimately accountable to Parliament.

Subsequently, federal Conservative Energy and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn indicated in a letter that he wished to fire CNSC chair Linda Keen over the matter. The Ottawa Citizen obtained and published Lunn's letter to Keen on January 8, 2008. Keen responded by going public with her own questioning of Lunn, publishing a letter on CNSC's website on January 9 and requesting the Police and the Privacy Commissioner investigate the leaking of in-confidence documentation.[5]

Auditor General Sheila Fraser, acting upon a request from Keen, had investigated AECL's situation, and issued a report to AECL's board of directors in late August 2007, indicating also that Lunn, who oversaw AECL at the political level, should be informed. Fraser's report pinpointed serious government funding deficiencies for AECL, which had held back necessary expansion, upgrading, and replacement of its facilities. Opposition politicians defended Keen, called for Lunn to be fired, and for the report to be made public.[6]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper backed Lunn,[7] and Linda Keen was dismissed as chair of the CNSC at 10pm January 15, 12 hours before she was to appear before a parliamentary committee. She remained a member of the CNSC board until December 2008.[8][9]

On January 29, 2008, the former President of the CNSC, Linda Keen, testified before the House Standing Committee on Natural Resources that the risk of fuel failure in the NRU reactor was "1 in 1000", and claimed this risk to be a thousand times greater than the "international standard of one in one million". These claims were challenged by AECL.[10]

• Anti-nuclear movement in Canada
• Canadian National Calibration Reference Centre
• International Nuclear Regulators' Association
• Nuclear industry in Canada

• Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission