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122-635: Decommissioning has been delayed due to ongoing regulatory issues and safety concerns. Currently, 233 comments on the draft Environmental Impact (EI) Assessment have been filed by diverse stakeholders, covering concerns about impacts on the Winnipeg River, radiological inventory, grout, and concrete, assessing the potential impact of earthquakes, and the need for guidance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In 2018 Sagkeeng First Nation (SFN) filed comments on

244-510: A cesium-137 source. The ten-year program measured the spread of the caesium in the water, and by comparing the two ponds, its effect on the life forms in them. In 1973 they constructed the Field Irradiator Gamma ( FIG ) experiment, which fenced off a 1 km area of forest and exposed it to a powerful cesium-137 gamma radiation source in a central tower. The program ran until 1986, and concluded that it required 100,000 times

366-541: A currently uneconomic prospect. A summary of the amounts of radioactive waste and management approaches for most developed countries are presented and reviewed periodically as part of a joint convention of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A quantity of radioactive waste typically consists of a number of radionuclides , which are unstable isotopes of elements that undergo decay and thereby emit ionizing radiation , which

488-517: A developing organism such as a fetus is irradiated, it is possible a birth defect may be induced, but it is unlikely this defect will be in a gamete or a gamete-forming cell . The incidence of radiation-induced mutations in humans is small, as in most mammals, because of natural cellular-repair mechanisms, many just now coming to light. These mechanisms range from DNA, mRNA and protein repair, to internal lysosomic digestion of defective proteins, and even induced cell suicide—apoptosis Depending on

610-531: A fuel in CANDU reactors. Currently, AECL is developing the Advanced CANDU Reactor , or "ACR". This design is meant to improve the commercial CANDU 6 design in terms of capital cost and construction schedule, while maintaining the classic design and safety characteristics of the CANDU concept. Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 began operation on May 6, 2007 . Preparatory work required for

732-568: A general rule, short-lived waste (mainly non-fuel materials from reactors) is buried in shallow repositories, while long-lived waste (from fuel and fuel reprocessing) is deposited in geological repository. Regulations in the United States do not define this category of waste; the term is used in Europe and elsewhere. ILW makes up 6% of all radioactive waste volume in the UK. High-level waste (HLW)

854-492: A half-life that can stretch to as long as 24,000 years. The amount of HLW worldwide is increasing by about 12,000 tonnes per year. A 1000- megawatt nuclear power plant produces about 27 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel (unreprocessed) every year. For comparison, the amount of ash produced by coal power plants in the United States is estimated at 130,000,000 t per year and fly ash is estimated to release 100 times more radiation than an equivalent nuclear power plant. In 2010, it

976-518: A heavy water leak (May 14, 2009). The production from the NRU reactor represented a significant fraction of the worlds medical isotope supply and the disruptions caused a worldwide shortage. Due to maintenance requirements from the aging NRU reactor and the failure of the MAPLE 1 & 2 reactor projects, the long term production of medical isotopes at Chalk River became uncertain. The NRU reactor at Chalk River

1098-590: A more serious level of commitment from the Crown, citing inadequate funding in order to participate in the EA being conducted. Because of SFN’s proximity to the WR-1 site, their concerns of radioactive waste leaching into their environment remain high. SFN also stated that they were not informed of alternative methods to the in-situ decommissioning proposal and were excluded from the alternatives assessment process. CNL maintains that

1220-582: A nuclear bomb made from plutonium manufactured by the CIRUS research reactor built by AECL in 1956, which was a commercial version of its NRX research reactor. In addition AECL built two power reactors in India based on the Douglas Point design, and many of India's other reactors are domestic variants of this design. The connection between India's nuclear weapons program and its CIRUS research reactor led to

1342-558: A number of proposals were versions of the heavy water reactor concept using alternate cooling arrangements including oil and boiling water. Their existing research site at the Chalk River Laboratories outside Ottawa appeared to be "at saturation" and too small to host all the planned experiments. Considering their options, it was noted that only three provinces did not already host some sort of major federal lab, Newfoundland , Alberta and Manitoba . Newfoundland

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1464-566: A period of three years ending in June 1965, and the reactor achieved criticality on 1 November 1965. The idea of an oil-cooled version of the CANDU was eventually abandoned in 1972, and from then on the WR-1 was operated at low power settings in a purely experimental program. Whiteshell led the development of the SLOWPOKE reactor , starting in 1967. However, the first example, SLOWPOKE-1, was built at Chalk River and reached criticality in 1970. Over

1586-662: A public hearing will be conducted, and the final draft of the project will be drawn up. The involvement of indigenous communities has been an ongoing challenge throughout the planning and assessment stages of the WR-1 decommissioning project. Indigenous consultation is required under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) and the CNSC also has obligations to consult. Sagkeeng First Nation (SFN) and the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) have filed 29 comments on

1708-438: A range of applications, such as oil well logging. Substances containing natural radioactivity are known as NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material). After human processing that exposes or concentrates this natural radioactivity (such as mining bringing coal to the surface or burning it to produce concentrated ash), it becomes technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM). Much of this waste

1830-511: A reactor. At that point, the fuel has to be replaced in the reactor with fresh fuel, even though there is still a substantial quantity of uranium-235 and plutonium present. In the United States, this used fuel is usually "stored", while in other countries such as Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and India, the fuel is reprocessed to remove the fission products, and the fuel can then be re-used. The fission products removed from

1952-586: A regulated period of control under CNL. All above ground structures will be removed, and a specialized cover will be installed over the sealed lower structure. In addition to these measures, several wells will be dug at strategic locations around the reactor site in order to monitor groundwater conditions. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Committee (CNSC) is legally obligated by the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) to review all proposed nuclear projects in Canada and carefully assess their potential impacts on nearby communities and

2074-405: A result of the processing or consumption of coal, oil, and gas, and some minerals, as discussed below. Waste from the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle is usually alpha-emitting waste from the extraction of uranium. It often contains radium and its decay products. Uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) concentrate from mining is a thousand or so times as radioactive as the granite used in buildings. It

2196-523: A severance of nuclear technological cooperation between Canada and India. In 1977–1978 the Bruce A group went online and began commercial operation. Each Bruce unit produces about 800 MWe of power. In 1978, Whiteshell Labs began research into fuel waste disposal. Between 1983 and 1986, the Pickering B group went online and also in 1983 the single CANDU reactor at Point Lepreau began operation, as did

2318-426: A similar way, the alpha emitting actinides and radium are considered very harmful as they tend to have long biological half-lives and their radiation has a high relative biological effectiveness , making it far more damaging to tissues per amount of energy deposited. Because of such differences, the rules determining biological injury differ widely according to the radioisotope, time of exposure, and sometimes also

2440-446: A stable state but rather to radioactive decay products within a decay chain before ultimately reaching a stable state. Exposure to radioactive waste may cause health impacts due to ionizing radiation exposure. In humans, a dose of 1 sievert carries a 5.5% risk of developing cancer, and regulatory agencies assume the risk is linearly proportional to dose even for low doses. Ionizing radiation can cause deletions in chromosomes. If

2562-505: A storage area, and the enrichment methods required have high capital costs. Pu-239 decays to U-235 which is suitable for weapons and which has a very long half-life (roughly 10 years). Thus plutonium may decay and leave uranium-235. However, modern reactors are only moderately enriched with U-235 relative to U-238, so the U-238 continues to serve as a denaturation agent for any U-235 produced by plutonium decay. One solution to this problem

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2684-521: A successful export product for AECL. Starting in 1984, Whiteshell began a collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to develop a nuclear battery for powering the North Warning System radars. This developed into an active generator using an Organic Rankine cycle generator. Whiteshell ran a number of life sciences programs over the years. In 1966, two 19 m diameter plastic-lined "ponds" were built, one of which held

2806-505: Is alpha particle -emitting matter from the decay chains of uranium and thorium. The main source of radiation in the human body is potassium -40 ( K ), typically 17 milligrams in the body at a time and 0.4 milligrams/day intake. Most rocks, especially granite , have a low level of radioactivity due to the potassium-40, thorium and uranium contained. Usually ranging from 1 millisievert (mSv) to 13 mSv annually depending on location, average radiation exposure from natural radioisotopes

2928-434: Is reactor-grade plutonium . In addition to plutonium-239 , which is highly suitable for building nuclear weapons, it contains large amounts of undesirable contaminants: plutonium-240 , plutonium-241 , and plutonium-238 . These isotopes are extremely difficult to separate, and more cost-effective ways of obtaining fissile material exist (e.g., uranium enrichment or dedicated plutonium production reactors). High-level waste

3050-487: Is 2.0 mSv per person a year worldwide. This makes up the majority of typical total dosage (with mean annual exposure from other sources amounting to 0.6 mSv from medical tests averaged over the whole populace, 0.4 mSv from cosmic rays , 0.005 mSv from the legacy of past atmospheric nuclear testing, 0.005 mSv occupational exposure, 0.002 mSv from the Chernobyl disaster , and 0.0002 mSv from

3172-503: Is a fertile material that can undergo a neutron capture reaction and two beta minus decays, resulting in the production of fissile U-233 . The SNF of a cycle with thorium will contain U-233. Its radioactive decay will strongly influence the long-term activity curve of the SNF for around a million years. A comparison of the activity associated to U-233 for three different SNF types can be seen in

3294-406: Is a fissile material used in nuclear bombs, plus some material with much higher specific activities, such as Pu-238 or Po. In the past the neutron trigger for an atomic bomb tended to be beryllium and a high activity alpha emitter such as polonium ; an alternative to polonium is Pu-238 . For reasons of national security, details of the design of modern nuclear bombs are normally not released to

3416-424: Is a gamma emitter (increasing external-exposure to workers) and is an alpha emitter which can cause the generation of heat . The plutonium could be separated from the americium by several different processes; these would include pyrochemical processes and aqueous/organic solvent extraction . A truncated PUREX type extraction process would be one possible method of making the separation. Naturally occurring uranium

3538-663: Is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine , nuclear research , nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning , rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons reprocessing. The storage and disposal of radioactive waste is regulated by government agencies in order to protect human health and the environment. Radioactive waste is broadly classified into 3 categories: low-level waste (LLW), such as paper, rags, tools, clothing, which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity; intermediate-level waste (ILW), which contains higher amounts of radioactivity and requires some shielding; and high-level waste (HLW), which

3660-552: Is already part of Team CANDU, a group of five companies that manufacture and refurbish the CANDU reactors. The government will continue to own the Chalk River Laboratories (produces isotopes for medical imaging). The transaction puts 800 jobs at risk while improving job security for 1,200 employees. Due to safety concerns many countries are considering thorium nuclear reactors which AECL's CANDU reactors easily convert into (from uranium fuelled). Higher energy yields using thorium as

3782-615: Is full of highly radioactive fission products , most of which are relatively short-lived. This is a concern since if the waste is stored, perhaps in deep geological storage, over many years the fission products decay, decreasing the radioactivity of the waste and making the plutonium easier to access. The undesirable contaminant Pu-240 decays faster than the Pu-239, and thus the quality of the bomb material increases with time (although its quantity decreases during that time as well). Thus, some have argued, as time passes, these deep storage areas have

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3904-516: Is generated from hospitals and industry, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle . Low-level wastes include paper, rags, tools, clothing, filters, and other materials which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity. Materials that originate from any region of an Active Area are commonly designated as LLW as a precautionary measure even if there is only a remote possibility of being contaminated with radioactive materials. Such LLW typically exhibits no higher radioactivity than one would expect from

4026-477: Is harmful to humans and the environment. Different isotopes emit different types and levels of radiation, which last for different periods of time. The radioactivity of all radioactive waste weakens with time. All radionuclides contained in the waste have a half-life —the time it takes for half of the atoms to decay into another nuclide . Eventually, all radioactive waste decays into non-radioactive elements (i.e., stable nuclides ). Since radioactive decay follows

4148-560: Is highly radioactive and hot due to decay heat, thus requiring cooling and shielding. In nuclear reprocessing plants, about 96% of spent nuclear fuel is recycled back into uranium-based and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels . The residual 4% is minor actinides and fission products , the latter of which are a mixture of stable and quickly decaying (most likely already having decayed in the spent fuel pool ) elements, medium lived fission products such as strontium-90 and caesium-137 and finally seven long-lived fission products with half lives in

4270-429: Is important to distinguish the processing of uranium to make fuel from the reprocessing of used fuel. Used fuel contains the highly radioactive products of fission (see high-level waste below). Many of these are neutron absorbers, called neutron poisons in this context. These eventually build up to a level where they absorb so many neutrons that the chain reaction stops, even with the control rods completely removed from

4392-594: Is in a “storage-with-surveillance” phase during its ongoing decommissioning process. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has proposed an in situ decommissioning plan, meaning the reactor will be left in place. This method aligns with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safety regulations for in-situ decommissioning. The IAEA does not identify all nuclear facilities to be eligible for in-situ decommissioning. Some factors that make WR-1 eligible for this process include its location underground,

4514-429: Is located at 50°10′42.3″N 96°03′38.7″W  /  50.178417°N 96.060750°W  / 50.178417; -96.060750 . The Underground Research Laboratory site is at 50°15′10.8″N 95°51′55.6″W  /  50.253000°N 95.865444°W  / 50.253000; -95.865444 . Atomic Energy Canada Limited Atomic Energy of Canada Limited ( AECL ) is a Canadian Crown corporation and

4636-577: Is much narrower, only focusing on environmental factors. In order to clarify the collaborative responsibilities of the CNSC, a Memorandum of Understanding was created with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. In eight annexes it defines the responsibilities of both the CNSC and the IAA to be information sharing and notification, public participation and engagement, appointment of rosters and review panels, and Crown consultation. The EA for

4758-597: Is not fissile because it contains 99.3% of U-238 and only 0.7% of U-235. Due to historic activities typically related to the radium industry, uranium mining, and military programs, numerous sites contain or are contaminated with radioactivity. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy (DOE) states there are "millions of gallons of radioactive waste" as well as "thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and material" and also "huge quantities of contaminated soil and water." Despite copious quantities of waste, in 2007,

4880-423: Is produced by nuclear reactors and the reprocessing of nuclear fuel. The exact definition of HLW differs internationally. After a nuclear fuel rod serves one fuel cycle and is removed from the core, it is considered HLW. Spent fuel rods contain mostly uranium with fission products and transuranic elements generated in the reactor core . Spent fuel is highly radioactive and often hot. HLW accounts for over 95% of

5002-528: Is refined from yellowcake (U 3 O 8 ), then converted to uranium hexafluoride gas (UF 6 ). As a gas, it undergoes enrichment to increase the U-235 content from 0.7% to about 4.4% (LEU). It is then turned into a hard ceramic oxide (UO 2 ) for assembly as reactor fuel elements. The main by-product of enrichment is depleted uranium (DU), principally the U-238 isotope, with a U-235 content of ~0.3%. It

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5124-432: Is stored, either as UF 6 or as U 3 O 8 . Some is used in applications where its extremely high density makes it valuable such as anti-tank shells , and on at least one occasion even a sailboat keel . It is also used with plutonium for making mixed oxide fuel (MOX) and to dilute, or downblend , highly enriched uranium from weapons stockpiles which is now being redirected to become reactor fuel. The back-end of

5246-514: Is the world's largest supplier of molybdenum -99 for diagnostic tests, and cobalt-60 for cancer therapy. AECL is funded through a combination of federal government appropriations and commercial revenue. In 2009, AECL received CA$ 651 (equivalent to $ 893.99 in 2023)   million in federal support. In October 2011 the federal government of Canada sold the commercial CANDU design and marketing business of AECL to Candu Energy for CA$ 15   million (including 15 years worth of royalties,

5368-648: Is to be conveyed in plain language. The MMF will be included in the environmental monitoring of the WR-1 site after decommissioning, facilitated by creation of the MMF-led Harvester Sample Collection Program. This program allows the MMF to steward a key portion of their traditional territory and creates opportunities for citizens to be involved in the WR-1 monitoring process. Timeline for the facility: The main Whiteshell site

5490-424: Is to facilitate a more productive relationship during the ongoing WR-1 decommissioning project, as well as any future nuclear projects. The agreement includes the creation of a liaison position within the MMF, as well as a yearly leadership meeting, and Red River Metis inclusion in an Indigenous Advisory Committee. A communications protocol has been developed for reportable events, and all communication between parties

5612-426: Is to recycle the plutonium and use it as a fuel e.g. in fast reactors . In pyrometallurgical fast reactors , the separated plutonium and uranium are contaminated by actinides and cannot be used for nuclear weapons. Waste from nuclear weapons decommissioning is unlikely to contain much beta or gamma activity other than tritium and americium . It is more likely to contain alpha-emitting actinides such as Pu-239 which

5734-489: Is understood that the role of the CNSC is to provide technical knowledge to all parties involved. Impact Assessments (IA) are conducted under the authority of the Impact Assessment Agency, while Environmental Assessments (EA) in this case fall under the responsibility of the CNSC. The scope of assessment of an IA is broader, encompassing several facets of sustainability; health, gender, impacts on Indigenous rights, socioeconomic impacts, and environmental impacts. The scope of an EA

5856-787: The Containment Test Facility ( CTF ) that examined potential hydrogen explosion sources in the CANDU reactors, and the Large-Scale Vented Combustion Test Facility ( LSVCTF ) that examined the actual explosions. Work at these sites concluded that by following some basic precautions the possibility of such an explosion in a CANDU was remote, and was used to test the Passive Autocatalytic Recombiners (PAR) system developed to scavenge trace amounts of hydrogen that might be present. The PAR would go on to be

5978-644: The Gentilly 2 CANDU reactor. Between 1984 and 1987 the Bruce B group began commercial operation, and also in 1987 the CANDU design was ranked one of Canada's top-10 engineering achievements. Douglas Point was decommissioned in May, 1984. Between 1985 and 1987, a series of design flaws in AECL's Therac-25 medical accelerator caused massive overdoses of radiation on 6 different occasions, resulting in five deaths. In 1987

6100-792: The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario to build Canada's first nuclear power plant at Rolphton, Ontario, which is 30 kilometres (19 mi) upstream from Chalk River. On June 4, 1962, the NPD ( Nuclear Power Demonstration ) first reactor went critical to demonstrate the CANDU concept, generating about 20 MWe. In 1963, AECL established the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment (now Whiteshell Laboratories ) in Pinawa , Manitoba , where an organically moderated and cooled reactor

6222-466: The NRX reactor at AECL's Chalk River Laboratories, when a combination of human and mechanical error led to a temporary loss of control over the reactor's power level. Undercooling of the fuel channels led to a partial meltdown . This caused a hydrogen-oxygen explosion inside the calandria . Several fuel bundles experienced melting and ruptured, rendering much of the core interior unusable. The reactor building

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6344-557: The National Research Council of Canada to develop a design for a nuclear reactor. Canadian firms had American contracts from the Manhattan Project ; with Eldorado Gold Mines for mining and processing uranium ore and with by Consolidated Mining and Smelting (CMS) for a heavy water plant at Trail, British Columbia . In 1944, approval was given by the federal government to begin with construction of

6466-473: The PUREX -process disposes of them as waste together with the fission products. The waste is subsequently converted into a glass-like ceramic for storage in a deep geological repository . The time radioactive waste must be stored depends on the type of waste and radioactive isotopes it contains. Short-term approaches to radioactive waste storage have been segregation and storage on the surface or near-surface of

6588-687: The AECL board that a site on the Winnipeg River near the Seven Sisters Generating Station appeared to be suitable, along with a report from the federal government's housing agency that a new town site could be developed nearby. As the town was on the border of the Whiteshell Provincial Park , they named the lab Whiteshell . Manitoba was responsible for building a new bridge over the Winnipeg River and maintaining roads and other services. The town

6710-715: The DOE has successfully completed cleanup, or at least closure, of several sites. Radioactive medical waste tends to contain beta particle and gamma ray emitters. It can be divided into two main classes. In diagnostic nuclear medicine a number of short-lived gamma emitters such as technetium-99m are used. Many of these can be disposed of by leaving it to decay for a short time before disposal as normal waste. Other isotopes used in medicine, with half-lives in parentheses, include: Industrial source waste can contain alpha, beta , neutron or gamma emitters. Gamma emitters are used in radiography while neutron emitting sources are used in

6832-569: The DOE stated a goal of cleaning all presently contaminated sites successfully by 2025. The Fernald , Ohio site for example had "31 million pounds of uranium product", "2.5 billion pounds of waste", "2.75 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris", and a "223 acre portion of the underlying Great Miami Aquifer had uranium levels above drinking standards." The United States has at least 108 sites designated as areas that are contaminated and unusable, sometimes many thousands of acres. The DOE wishes to clean or mitigate many or all by 2025, using

6954-545: The MOX fuel results in a lower activity in region 3 of the figure at the bottom right, whereas for RGPu and WGPu the curve is maintained higher due to the presence of U-233 that has not fully decayed. Nuclear reprocessing can remove the actinides from the spent fuel so they can be used or destroyed (see Long-lived fission product § Actinides ). Since uranium and plutonium are nuclear weapons materials, there are proliferation concerns. Ordinarily (in spent nuclear fuel), plutonium

7076-514: The NRU ( National Research Universal Reactor ) first went critical. This was a natural-uranium fuelled, heavy-water moderated and cooled research reactor (converted to high-enriched-uranium fuel in the 1960s, and finally to low-enriched-uranium fuel in the 1990s). The NRU is a world-renowned research facility, producing about 60% of the world's supply of molybdenum-99, the principle isotope used for nuclear medical diagnosis. Canada also pioneered use of cobalt-60 for medical diagnosis in 1951 and currently

7198-472: The NRU reactor produces the medical-use cobalt-60, while selected CANDU reactors produce industrial-use cobalt-60, comprising 85% of the world's supply. NRU was primarily a Canadian design, and a significant improvement on NRX. Other than radioisotope production, the NRU provides irradiation services for nuclear materials and fuels testing, as well as producing neutron beams for the National Research Council's Canadian Neutron Beam Laboratory. On May 24, 1958,

7320-423: The NRU suffered a major accident. A damaged uranium fuel rod caught fire and was torn in two as it was being removed from the core, due to inadequate cooling. The fire was extinguished, but not before releasing a sizeable quantity of radioactive combustion products that contaminated the interior of the reactor building and, to a lesser degree, an area of the surrounding laboratory site. Over 600 people were employed in

7442-408: The Pu-239; due to the relatively long half-life of these Pu isotopes, these wastes from radioactive decay of bomb core material would be very small, and in any case, far less dangerous (even in terms of simple radioactivity) than the Pu-239 itself. The beta decay of Pu-241 forms Am-241 ; the in-growth of americium is likely to be a greater problem than the decay of Pu-239 and Pu-240 as the americium

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7564-1121: The Radioactive Waste Safety Standards (RADWASS), also plays a significant role. The proportion of various types of waste generated in the UK: Uranium tailings are waste by-product materials left over from the rough processing of uranium-bearing ore . They are not significantly radioactive. Mill tailings are sometimes referred to as 11(e)2 wastes , from the section of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1946 that defines them. Uranium mill tailings typically also contain chemically hazardous heavy metal such as lead and arsenic . Vast mounds of uranium mill tailings are left at many old mining sites, especially in Colorado , New Mexico , and Utah . Although mill tailings are not very radioactive, they have long half-lives. Mill tailings often contain radium, thorium and trace amounts of uranium. Low-level waste (LLW)

7686-467: The United States". ZEEP put Canada at the forefront of nuclear research in the world and was the instigator behind eventual development of the CANDU reactors, ZEEP having operated as a research reactor until the early 1970s. In 1946 the Montreal research laboratory was closed and research was consolidated at Chalk River Laboratories. On July 22, 1947, the NRX (National Research Experimental) reactor,

7808-457: The WR-1 project commenced May 16, 2016, and passed a completeness check on January 19, 2023, after CNL and CNSC evaluated comments made on the draft EA and consulting further with First Nations and the Manitoba Metis Federation. The next step of the review process involves technical review by the Federal, Provincial, Indigenous Review Team (FPIRT) that may last up to a year. Following this period,

7930-718: The ZEEP (Zero Energy Experimental Pile) reactor at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories near Chalk River, Ontario , located on the Ottawa River approximately 190 km northwest of Ottawa . AECL was also involved in the development of associated technology such as the UTEC computer. On September 5, 1945, the ZEEP reactor first went critical, achieving the first "self-sustained nuclear reaction outside

8052-639: The ash content of 'dirty' coals. The more active ash minerals become concentrated in the fly ash precisely because they do not burn well. The radioactivity of fly ash is about the same as black shale and is less than phosphate rocks, but is more of a concern because a small amount of the fly ash ends up in the atmosphere where it can be inhaled. According to U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) reports, population exposure from 1000-MWe power plants amounts to 490 person-rem/year for coal power plants, 100 times as great as nuclear power plants (4.8 person-rem/year). The exposure from

8174-448: The back end of the fuel cycle is especially relevant when designing a complete waste management plan for SNF. When looking at long-term radioactive decay, the actinides in the SNF have a significant influence due to their characteristically long half-lives. Depending on what a nuclear reactor is fueled with, the actinide composition in the SNF will be different. An example of this effect is the use of nuclear fuels with thorium . Th-232

8296-442: The clean-up. [2] [3] No immediate injuries resulted from AECL's two accidents, but there were over-exposures to radiation. In the case of the NRU cleanup, this resulted in at least one documented case of latent, life-changing injury, as well as allegations that radiation monitoring and protection were inadequate (meaning that additional latent injuries would have gone unrecognized or unacknowledged). In 1954 AECL partnered with

8418-452: The complete nuclear fuel cycle from mining to waste disposal is 136 person-rem/year; the corresponding value for coal use from mining to waste disposal is "probably unknown". Residues from the oil and gas industry often contain radium and its decay products. The sulfate scale from an oil well can be radium rich, while the water, oil, and gas from a well often contain radon . The radon decays to form solid radioisotopes which form coatings on

8540-411: The completion of Units 3 and 4 is scheduled to begin by the end of 2007. Company president Robert Van Adel announced that he would be stepping down from the position of president and retired from the company effective November 11, 2007. Energy Alberta Corporation announced August 27, 2007, that they had filed application for a license to build a new nuclear plant at Lac Cardinal (30 km west of

8662-425: The decay mode and the pharmacokinetics of an element (how the body processes it and how quickly), the threat due to exposure to a given activity of a radioisotope will differ. For instance, iodine-131 is a short-lived beta and gamma emitter, but because it concentrates in the thyroid gland, it is more able to cause injury than caesium -137 which, being water soluble , is rapidly excreted through urine. In

8784-591: The design was flawed. Unit 1 of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant was commissioned on December 2, 1996. Rated at 706 MWe, it currently supplies approximately 10% of Romania's electrical needs. Unit Two achieved criticality on 6 May 2007 and was connected to the national grid on 7 August. It began operating at full capacity on 12 September 2007, also producing 706 MW. In the late 1990s, several reactors were built by AECL in South Korea . Wolsong 2

8906-434: The difficulties regarding the long-term management of radioactive wastes. In April 2023, decommissioning stopped completely due to deficient emergency preparedness procedures. Before the WR-1 decommissioning project can resume it must pass a multiphase restart program determined by the CNSC. In the late 1950s, Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) was planning an aggressive expansion of their experimental reactor designs. Among

9028-465: The draft Environment Assessment (EA) between 2017 and 2018. The main themes of these comments are Public and Aboriginal Consultation, CNSC Impartiality, and Decommissioning Waste Policies. In January 2015 SFN alerted CNL that they felt it was failing in its obligation to meaningfully include them in the consultation process, ignoring Treaty rights and community interests or concerns. SFN asserted that their right to free, prior, and informed consent demanded

9150-605: The draft Environmental Impact Statement expressing concern that CNL failed to meaningfully consult SFN or adequately consider the Reactor-1 decommissioning project’s impacts on Treaty Rights. SFN also expressed concern that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Committee (CNSC) did not fulfill its obligation to the Canadian public to include them in the consultation process or adequately inform the public of

9272-607: The earth. Burial in a deep geological repository is a favored solution for long-term storage of high-level waste, while re-use and transmutation are favored solutions for reducing the HLW inventory. Boundaries to recycling of spent nuclear fuel are regulatory and economic as well as the issue of radioactive contamination if chemical separation processes cannot achieve a very high purity. Furthermore, elements may be present in both useful and troublesome isotopes, which would require costly and energy intensive isotope separation for their use –

9394-467: The environment. The IAA requires the consideration of economic, social, health, and environmental impacts—both positive and negative of the project on question. The WR-1 decommissioning project also requires collaboration with the CNSC under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA). While the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada requires Indigenous engagement in the early planning of the project, it

9516-425: The facilities and activities have since ceased active operation. As of 2017, many of the original facilities are shut down, but work on WR-1 is ongoing. The site is planned to be entirely decommissioned by 2024. Whiteshell Laboratories is currently operated under a decommissioning license issued by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Committee (CNSC) on January 1, 2020. This license expires December 31, 2024. The reactor site

9638-515: The fact that it does not contain large quantities of long-lived isotopes, and that it can easily be monitored during the post-closure control period. All radioactive liquids and fuels will be removed and transported to Chalk River Laboratories in Ottawa. The contaminated lower structure of the reactor will be encapsulated. This involves sealing the structure with grout and encasing it in concrete in order to contain any remaining radioactive material for

9760-411: The figure on the top right. The burnt fuels are thorium with reactor-grade plutonium (RGPu), thorium with weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu), and Mixed oxide fuel (MOX, no thorium). For RGPu and WGPu, the initial amount of U-233 and its decay for around a million years can be seen. This has an effect on the total activity curve of the three fuel types. The initial absence of U-233 and its daughter products in

9882-619: The fuel (1 tonne (0.98 long tons; 1.1 short tons) of thorium produces the same amount of energy as 200 tonnes (200 long tons; 220 short tons) tons of uranium) also makes it more attractive. OMERS has also shown interest in the company. AECL traces its heritage to the Second World War when a joint Canadian- British nuclear research laboratory, the Montreal Laboratory , was established in Montreal in 1942, under

10004-567: The fuel are a concentrated form of high-level waste as are the chemicals used in the process. While most countries reprocess the fuel carrying out single plutonium cycles, India is planning multiple plutonium recycling schemes and Russia pursues closed cycle. The use of different fuels in nuclear reactors results in different spent nuclear fuel (SNF) composition, with varying activity curves. The most abundant material being U-238 with other uranium isotopes, other actinides, fission products and activation products. Long-lived radioactive waste from

10126-477: The fuel for about three hundred years while the majority of the gamma ray sources burned out, followed by a much longer period of physical isolation, not necessarily underground, to ensure the remaining radionuclides did not enter the water supply. AECL eventually decided the entire waste storage period should be underground. They found a suitable test site in Canadian Shield rock about 16 km northwest of

10248-560: The government could get back as much as CA$ 285   million). The sale entered the exclusive negotiation stage in February, a month after the other bidder, Bruce Power pulled out). Poor sales and cost overruns ( CA$ 1.2   billion in the last five years) were reasons for the divestment though SNC-Lavalin expects to reverse that trend by focusing on new generation reactors . SNC-Lavalin Nuclear Inc, SNC's nuclear subsidiary

10370-416: The half-life rule, the rate of decay is inversely proportional to the duration of decay. In other words, the radiation from a long-lived isotope like iodine-129 will be much less intense than that of a short-lived isotope like iodine-131 . The two tables show some of the major radioisotopes, their half-lives, and their radiation yield as a proportion of the yield of fission of uranium-235. The energy and

10492-411: The hundreds of thousands to millions of years. The minor actinides meanwhile are heavy elements other than uranium and plutonium which are created by neutron capture . Their half lives range from years to millions of years and as alpha emitters they are particularly radiotoxic. While there are proposed – and to a much lesser extent current – uses of all those elements, commercial scale reprocessing using

10614-466: The implications of structural failure resulting in contamination. Several commenters noted CNSC’s obligation to inform and consult not only First Nations, but members of the public as well. In response to these comments, CNL and CNSC reached out to SFN and other First Nations to discuss the potential impacts of the project and potential mitigation efforts. Polling in the Lac du Bonnet area was conducted to assess

10736-412: The inside of pipework. In an oil processing plant, the area of the plant where propane is processed is often one of the more contaminated areas of the plant as radon has a similar boiling point to propane. Radioactive elements are an industrial problem in some oil wells where workers operating in direct contact with the crude oil and brine can be exposed to doses having negative health effects. Due to

10858-500: The largest nuclear science and technology laboratory in Canada. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this technology to Candu Energy . AECL describes its goal as ensuring that "Canadians and the world receive energy, environmental and economic benefits from nuclear science and technology – with confidence that nuclear safety and security are assured". Until October 2011, AECL

10980-482: The machine was found defective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and eventually recalled by AECL despite their multiple denials that the problems existed. Between 1990 and 1993, the 4 CANDU reactors at Darlington went online and represent the most recent reactor construction in Canada. In 1991, AECL decided to spin off its medical isotope production business under the name Nordion International Inc. The unit

11102-488: The main Whiteshell site. This led to the construction of the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) whose primary concern was measuring the stability of hard-rock burial and potential groundwater exchange. The facility was decommissioned and deliberately flooded in 2010 to perform one final experiment to examine how mine seals work in a water environment. Other programs on the main site included

11224-428: The most powerful reactor in the world at the time, went critical and was "used successfully for producing radioisotopes, undertaking fuels and materials development work for CANDU reactors, and providing neutrons for physics experiments". In 1952 AECL was formed by the government with a mandate to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy. On December 12, 1952, one of the world's first major reactor accidents occurred in

11346-495: The natural background to kill pine trees. A similar experiment started the next year in 1974, the ZEUS ( Zoological Environment Under Stress ) experiment, which set aside six 1-hectare meadow areas in 1974 and carried out long-term radioactive releases to measure the results. They were mostly interested in the effects on meadow voles , but did not reach any conclusions. In 1998, AECL decided to close Whiteshell Laboratories and many of

11468-565: The nature of the chemical compound which contains the radioisotope. No fission products have a half-life in the range of 100 a–210 ka ... ... nor beyond 15.7 Ma Radioactive waste comes from a number of sources. In countries with nuclear power plants, nuclear armament, or nuclear fuel treatment plants, the majority of waste originates from the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear weapons reprocessing. Other sources include medical and industrial wastes, as well as naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) that can be concentrated as

11590-458: The next decade, several SLOWPOKE-2 reactors were sold around the world. A larger version, SLOWPOKE-3, was designed to supply 10,000 kW of hot water for district heating . The SLOWPOKE Demonstration Reactor (SDR) was built at Whiteshell in the 1980s to test this concept. The project was terminated after market interest in a nuclear heating system dwindled, and the SDR reactor at Whiteshell remained

11712-891: The north of Scotland is the Dounreay site which is prepared to withstand a 4m tsunami. [1] Some high-activity LLW requires shielding during handling and transport but most LLW is suitable for shallow land burial. To reduce its volume, it is often compacted or incinerated before disposal. Low-level waste is divided into four classes: class A , class B , class C , and Greater Than Class C ( GTCC ). Intermediate-level waste (ILW) contains higher amounts of radioactivity compared to low-level waste. It generally requires shielding, but not cooling. Intermediate-level wastes includes resins , chemical sludge and metal nuclear fuel cladding, as well as contaminated materials from reactor decommissioning. It may be solidified in concrete or bitumen or mixed with silica sand and vitrified for disposal. As

11834-577: The nuclear fuel cycle). TENORM is not regulated as restrictively as nuclear reactor waste, though there are no significant differences in the radiological risks of these materials. Coal contains a small amount of radioactive uranium, barium, thorium, and potassium, but, in the case of pure coal, this is significantly less than the average concentration of those elements in the Earth's crust . The surrounding strata, if shale or mudstone, often contain slightly more than average and this may also be reflected in

11956-491: The nuclear fuel cycle, mostly spent fuel rods , contains fission products that emit beta and gamma radiation, and actinides that emit alpha particles , such as uranium-234 (half-life 245 thousand years), neptunium-237 (2.144 million years), plutonium-238 (87.7 years) and americium-241 (432 years), and even sometimes some neutron emitters such as californium (half-life of 898 years for californium-251). These isotopes are formed in nuclear reactors . It

12078-570: The only SLOWPOKE-3 reactor ever built. The construction of SDR at Whiteshell began 1985 and the reactor started operation 1987 and was shut down 1989 and was decommissioned. Other major facilities included shielded hot cell facilities, research laboratories and radioactive waste management areas including the Whiteshell Used Fuel Storage Facility. In 1974, AECL began an extensive program in nuclear waste disposal. Their general program would involve burial to shield

12200-440: The open literature. Some designs might contain a radioisotope thermoelectric generator using Pu-238 to provide a long-lasting source of electrical power for the electronics in the device. It is likely that the fissile material of an old nuclear bomb, which is due for refitting, will contain decay products of the plutonium isotopes used in it. These are likely to include U-236 from Pu-240 impurities plus some U-235 from decay of

12322-402: The potential to become "plutonium mines", from which material for nuclear weapons can be acquired with relatively little difficulty. Critics of the latter idea have pointed out the difficulty of recovering useful material from sealed deep storage areas makes other methods preferable. Specifically, high radioactivity and heat (80 °C in surrounding rock) greatly increase the difficulty of mining

12444-533: The proposed in-situ decommissioning method is low-risk compared to alternative methods such as continued storage and surveillance, and complete dismantling of the reactor, stating that risks of in-situ decommissioning are low when compared to the CNSC’s limits. The WR-1 decommissioning project represents the first instance of permission being granted to dispose of nuclear waste in an irretrievable, permanent manner, and several shareholders including SFN remain concerned about

12566-583: The reactor debris. [1] The NRX was repaired, upgraded, and returned to service 14 months later and operated for another 40 years, finally being shut down in 1992. Throughout the 1950s the NRX was used by many researchers in the pioneering fields of neutron condensed matter physics, including Dr. Bertram Brockhouse , who shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in developing the neutron scattering techniques. The NRU opened in 1957. On November 3, 1957

12688-468: The reactor design division, AECL will consist of the current Nuclear Laboratories division, including the Chalk River laboratory (produces isotopes for medical imaging), and will continue to be a Crown Corporation on paper but will privatise the operation of its facilities. Nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material . Radioactive waste

12810-421: The reactors. In June 2009 the province announced that only AECL's ACR-1000 submission met all the proposal requirements. The Ontario government has since suspended the acquisition process citing the cost and uncertainty surrounding the companies future ownership (discussed below). Medical isotope production using the 1957-built NRU reactor experienced two forced outages due to safety concerns (December 2007) and

12932-477: The recently developed method of geomelting , however the task can be difficult and it acknowledges that some may never be completely remediated. In just one of these 108 larger designations, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), there were for example at least "167 known contaminant release sites" in one of the three subdivisions of the 37,000-acre (150 km ) site. Some of the U.S. sites were smaller in nature, however, cleanup issues were simpler to address, and

13054-588: The relatively high concentration of these elements in the brine, its disposal is also a technological challenge. Since the 1980s, in the United States, the brine is however exempt from the dangerous waste regulations and can be disposed of regardless of radioactive or toxic substances content. Due to natural occurrence of radioactive elements such as thorium and radium in rare-earth ore , mining operations also result in production of waste and mineral deposits that are slightly radioactive. Classification of radioactive waste varies by country. The IAEA, which publishes

13176-457: The same material disposed of in a non-active area, such as a normal office block. Example LLW includes wiping rags, mops, medical tubes, laboratory animal carcasses, and more. LLW makes up 94% of all radioactive waste volume in the UK. Most of it is disposed of in Cumbria , first in landfill style trenches, and now using grouted metal containers that are stacked in concrete vaults. A new site in

13298-408: The sentiments of citizens regarding the proposal. On August 9, 2023, the MMF signed a five-year agreement with CNL to establish cooperation between the two organizations. Manitoba Metis Federation (2023, August 11). The Manitoba Metis Federation and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Sign Five-year Contribution Agreement.</ref> The agreement took two years to finalize, and the goal of the agreement

13420-637: The total radioactivity produced in the process of nuclear electricity generation but it contributes to less than 1% of volume of all radioactive waste produced in the UK. Overall, the 60-year-long nuclear program in the UK up until 2019 produced 2150 m of HLW. The radioactive waste from spent fuel rods consists primarily of cesium-137 and strontium-90, but it may also include plutonium, which can be considered transuranic waste. The half-lives of these radioactive elements can differ quite extremely. Some elements, such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 have half-lives of approximately 30 years. Meanwhile, plutonium has

13542-717: The town of Peace River . The application would see an initial twin AECL Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) plant go online in 2017, producing 2.2 gigawatt (electric). Point Lepreau, New Brunswick CANDU 6 plant refurbishment to begin as of April 1, 2008. In June 2008, the Province of Ontario has announced plans to build two additional commercial reactors for electricity generation at a site next to Ontario Power Generation 's Darlington Nuclear Generating Station Two companies, AREVA and Westinghouse Electric Company along with AECL submitted proposals to build

13664-403: The type of the ionizing radiation emitted by a radioactive substance are also important factors in determining its threat to humans. The chemical properties of the radioactive element will determine how mobile the substance is and how likely it is to spread into the environment and contaminate humans. This is further complicated by the fact that many radioisotopes do not decay immediately to

13786-411: The way for upscaling to commercial power CANDU reactors in subsequent years. In 1971 the first commercial CANDU reactor, Pickering A 1, began commercial operation. By 1973 the other three reactors of the A group at Pickering were online and constituted the most powerful nuclear facility in the world at that time. Each Pickering unit produces about 600 MWe of power. On May 18, 1974, India detonated

13908-467: The world's medical isotopes , meaning that the second reactor would be used as a back-up to ensure an uninterruptible supply. The first reactor was started but experienced malfunctions in its safety rods, and a positive nuclear power feedback coefficient was recorded. After running over the Schedule by more than 8 years and more than doubling the initial budget, AECL cancelled the project in 2008 because

14030-645: Was also the vendor of CANDU technology, which it had exported worldwide. Throughout the 1960s–2000s AECL marketed and built CANDU facilities in India , South Korea , Argentina , Romania , and the People's Republic of China . It is a member of the World Nuclear Association trade group. In addition, AECL manufactures nuclear medicine radioisotopes for supply to Nordion in Ottawa , Ontario, and

14152-500: Was built. Later work on developing a SLOWPOKE reactor , thorium fuel cycle , and a proposal for safe storage of radioactive waste were carried out at this site. AECL built a larger CANDU prototype (200 MWe) at Douglas Point on Lake Huron, first going critical on November 15, 1966. Douglas Point experienced significant problems with leakage of heavy water , which were eventually solved by much-improved valve design. Other important design refinements worked out at Douglas Point opened

14274-509: Was commissioned July 1, 1997. Wolsong 3 was commissioned on July 1, 1998. Wolsong 4 was commissioned October 1, 1999. All three reactors were rated at 715MWe Gross Output. They currently have some of the highest lifetime capacity factors of nuclear reactors. In 2001, AECL began tests at Chalk River Labs to determine the feasibility of using surplus mixed oxide fuel (MOX) from the Russian and U.S. defence programs (which contains plutonium) as

14396-467: Was contaminated, as well as an area of the Chalk River site, and millions of gallons of radioactive water accumulated in the reactor basement. This water was pumped to a waste management area of the Laboratories and monitored. Hundreds of military personnel from Canada and the U.S. (including naval officer and later U.S. President, LT James "Jimmy" Carter ) were employed in the cleanup and disposal of

14518-570: Was developed as Pinawa , some distance to the southeast of the lab site. A deal was signed on 21 July 1960, creating the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment (WNRE). The site was selected to host the Organic-Cooled Deuterium-Reactor Experiment (OCDRE), which later became known as WR-1 . The design needed to be ready for construction to start in April 1962. General Electric Canada built the reactor over

14640-526: Was eliminated, and Alberta already had an oil and gas industry and did not need more energy experiments. So, the decision was made to build in Manitoba. A preliminary site survey was carried out by Shawinigan Engineering (later part of Lavalin , today part of SNC-Lavalin ). This was followed by meetings between AECL president J.L. Gray and Manitoba premier Dufferin Roblin . In November 1959, Gray reported to

14762-605: Was shut down in 2018. In the summer of 2011 SNC-Lavalin won an international bidding process for the reactor design division of the company. Prior to the acquisition, 10% of SNC Lavalin's international power workforce (400 of 4000) were engaged in the production and refurbishment of nuclear reactors. Concerns raised about the deal include a lack of commitment by SNC-Lavalin to keeping the design division intact (its size makes it more capable of providing ongoing safety support). For 2010 and 2009 combined Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd lost CA$ 493   million. Following divestiture of

14884-470: Was sold to MDS Health Group and now operates under the name MDS Nordion With a contract signed in 1991, AECL, in partnership with MDS Nordion, began construction of the MAPLE dedicated isotope-production facility. Constructed on-site at AECL's Chalk River Laboratories this facility would house two reactors and an isotope processing facility. Each reactor was designed to be able to produce at least 100% of

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