Atomic Energy of Canada Limited

News

Nov 4, 2021

Safe Long-Term Storage of Waste at Port Granby Site

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is proud to announce the capping and closure of the engineered aboveground mound at the Port Granby Long-Term Waste Management Facility in Clarington, Ontario, as part of the Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI).

Construction at the Port Granby Project storage facility began in 2016 and involved the installation of multi-layered base liner and cover systems to safely isolate approximately 1.3 million tonnes of low-level radioactive waste from the environment. In November 2020, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) completed the excavation and safe transfer of historic waste from the former site on the shores of Lake Ontario. Maintenance and monitoring at this facility will continue for hundreds of years.

The facility is one of several environmental remediation projects being undertaken by CNL, including the design and construction of a similar facility proposed for the Chalk River Laboratories site, known as the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF), which is currently undergoing an environmental assessment.

This is a significant achievement, one which has only been made possible through collaborative work between AECL, CNL and municipal partners.

“This milestone represents a strong and continuous commitment to our environmental protection initiatives,” said Fred Dermarkar, President and CEO of AECL. “Together, we are addressing key environmental remediation responsibilities now to leave an honourable legacy for future generations.”

We would like to congratulate all staff and contractors for their hard work, and we look forward to celebrating with the community and Indigenous nations in the spring.

For more information on the Port Granby Project and the PHAI, please visit CNL’s website.

 

Apr 5, 2021

Joint statement from AECL, CNL & the Town of Deep River

Chalk River, ON – April 05, 2021 – Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and the Town of Deep River issued the following joint statement today:

In response to the ongoing revitalization of the Chalk River Laboratories campus, including the decommissioning of aging infrastructure and new capital investments, AECL, CNL and the Town of Deep River have agreed to an examination of recent assessments of property value for some of the buildings at the AECL-owned site.

The objective of this evaluation is to provide for a fair valuation of new and renovated facilities at the Chalk River Laboratories’ facilities, as the foundation for updating the payment in lieu of property taxes. The three parties will work together with the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to review assessments.

“As the company contracted to operate AECL’s Chalk River Laboratories campus, CNL is pleased to participate in this process and will work collaboratively to support this review,” commented Joe McBrearty. “All three parties recognize just how important it is that these payments reflect the proper value of the site, and I’m pleased that we were able to proactively come to an agreed path forward on this assessment.”

“AECL is making significant investments in the Chalk River Laboratories to transform it into a modern, world-class nuclear science and technology campus.” Fred Dermarkar added, “As we modernize our facilities, it is important that this be reflected in our contributions to the local communities through payments in lieu of taxes. We are proud of our history in this strong and vibrant local community, and want to see this continue for decades to come.

“On behalf of the Town of Deep River, I want to express our appreciation to AECL and CNL for the open, professional and constructive dialogue they have engaged in with us.  As a conscientious corporate citizen, they volunteered to have the recent new construction at Chalk River Laboratories reassessed to ensure fairness in taxation, despite the fact that they are not legislatively obliged to do so.  AECL, CNL and CNEA are exceptional members of our community and have partnered with us on many recent initiatives including: fire services, water and improvements to internet.  We are fortunate to have them as part of our town.” Sue D’Eon, Mayor

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CNL Contact:

Patrick Quinn
Director, Corporate Communications
CNL, 1-866-886-2325 or pat.quinn@cnl.ca

AECL Contact:

Maude-Émilie Pagé
Director, Communications and Government Reporting
343-303-5345 or mpage@aecl.ca

Town of Deep River Contact:

Seam Patterson
Chief Administrative Officer
613 584 2000      SPatterson@deepriver.ca

Jan 12, 2021

Canada, United States, Announce Completion of Nuclear Material Shipping Project

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) today announced the completion of a multi-year project to repatriate highly enriched uranium (HEU) liquid target residue material from the Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, Canada to the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina.   

The material was the by-product of the production of medical isotopes from AECL’s National Research Universal reactor. While the research reactor is now shutdown, for many decades it produced medical isotopes used for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. Over the years, this benefited billions of people in Canada and around the world. The medical isotopes were produced using HEU supplied by the United States.   

The shipping project, which began in 2017 and finished in August of 2020, involved 115 separate truck shipments, resulting in the return of more than 161 kilograms of HEU. Over the four-years of the campaign, the shipments covered more than 240,000 kilometers of safe and secure transportation, equivalent to traveling around the earth six times.    

Together, the completion of this shipping campaign, along with the recently completed campaign of spent nuclear fuel from the National Research Universal and National Research Experimental research reactors, resulted in the repatriation of more than 367 kilograms of HEU.  

This not only reduces Canada’s environmental liabilities and risks, it also serves our nuclear security and non-proliferation objectives by reducing the availability of this material.  

The target residue material was returned to the United States under the U.S.-Origin Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance Program, which was established in 1996 with the mission to repatriate U.S.-origin spent nuclear fuel and other weapons-grade nuclear material from civilian sites worldwide.  

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions and Savannah River National Laboratory were key partners and played a pivotal role in the success of the campaign. AECL and DOE/NNSA continue to explore the repatriation of additional highly enriched uranium and other materials over the next several years. 

Press release from the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA)) :  https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/united-states-canada-complete-nuclear-material-shipping-campaign