Fifth Canadian National Report for the Joint Convention
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Canadian National Report for the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management © Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) 2014 PWGSC catalogue number CC172-23/2014E-PDF ISSN 2368-4828 Extracts from this document may be reproduced for individual use without permission provided the source is fully acknowledged. However, reproduction in whole or in part for purposes of resale or redistribution requires prior written permission from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Également publié en français sous le titre: Rapport national du Canada pour la Convention commune sur la sûreté de la gestion du combustible usé et sur la sûreté de la gestion des déchets radioactifs Document availability This document can be viewed on the CNSC website at nuclearsafety.gc.ca. To request a copy of the document in English or French, please contact: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission 280 Slater Street P.O. Box 1046, Station B Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5S9 CANADA Tel.: 613-995-5894 or 1-800-668-5284 (in Canada only) Facsimile: 613-995-5086 Email: [email protected] Website: nuclearsafety.gc.ca Facebook: facebook.com/CanadianNuclearSafetyCommission YouTube: youtube.com/cnscccsn Publishing history October, 2011 Fourth Report October, 2008 Third Report October, 2005 Second Report October, 2002 First Report ii Preface Information in this report covers the period up to March 31, 2014. However, in some instances the reporting period extends beyond this to the time of writing the report: July 31, 2014. Examples include the current status of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s regulatory documents, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) Adaptive Phased Management (APM) approach, and Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) Deep Geologic Repository (DGR). iii iv Table of Contents Executive Summary........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Canada’s key highlights and current priorities ................................................................................. 1 3.0 Progress since the Fourth Review Meeting ...................................................................................... 2 3.1 Canada continues progress for long-term management strategies by: ............................................. 2 3.1(a) Finding an acceptable site for a spent nuclear fuel (SNF) repository .............................. 2 3.1(b) Developing long-term management options for radioactive waste .................................................. 3 3.1(c) Demonstrating the safety of old interim storage facilities to support relicensing ............ 4 3.1(d) Addressing a wide variety of legacy wastes in several areas and in several forms which require treatment and disposal ......................................................................................... 6 3.1(e) Addressing historic and legacy waste issues .................................................................... 6 3.1(f) Implementing “gap analysis” findings for improving the regulatory framework ............ 7 3.1(g) Updating, revising and developing new regulatory documents to provide guidance to the licensee ............................................................................................................................. 7 3.1(h) Implementation of Fukushima Action Plan...................................................................... 8 4.0 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Section A – Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 9 A.1 Scope of the section ......................................................................................................................... 9 A.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 9 A.3 Nuclear substances ..........................................................................................................................11 A.4 Canadian philosophy and approach to safety ..................................................................................11 A.5 Fundamental principles ...................................................................................................................11 A.6 Main safety issues ...........................................................................................................................12 A.7 Survey of the main themes ..............................................................................................................12 Section B – Policies and Practices .................................................................................................................13 B.1 Scope of the section ........................................................................................................................13 B.2 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................13 B.3 Legislative instruments ...................................................................................................................13 B.4 National framework for radioactive waste management .................................................................13 B.5 Regulatory policy on managing spent fuel and radioactive waste ..................................................15 B.6 Regulatory guide G-320, Assessing the Long Term Safety of Radioactive Waste Management .....16 B.7 Classification of radioactive waste in Canada .................................................................................16 B.7.1 High-level radioactive waste ...........................................................................................17 B.7.2 Intermediate-level radioactive waste ...............................................................................17 B.7.3 Low-level radioactive waste ...........................................................................................18 B.7.4 Uranium mine and mill waste .........................................................................................18 B.8 Operational responsibilities for long-term management .................................................................18 v B.9 Management practices for spent fuel ...............................................................................................20 B.10 Management practices for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste ......................................20 B.11 Management practices for uranium mine waste rock and mill tailings ...........................................22 Section C – Scope of Application ..................................................................................................................25 C.1 Scope of the section ........................................................................................................................25 C.2 Introduction .....................................................................................................................................25 C.3 Reprocessed spent fuel ....................................................................................................................25 C.4 Naturally occurring nuclear substances ...........................................................................................25 C.5 Department of National Defence programs .....................................................................................26 Section D – Inventories and Lists ..................................................................................................................27 D.1 Scope of the section ........................................................................................................................27 D.2 Inventory of spent fuel in Canada ...................................................................................................27 D.2.1 Spent fuel wet storage inventory at nuclear reactor sites ................................................27 D.3 Radioactive waste inventory ...........................................................................................................28 D.3.1 Radioactive waste management facilities........................................................................28 D.4 Uranium mining and milling waste .................................................................................................32 D.4.1 Operational mine and mill sites .......................................................................................33 D.4.2 Inventory of uranium mine and mill waste at inactive tailings sites ...............................34 Section E – Legislative and Regulatory Systems ..........................................................................................37 E.1 Scope of the section ........................................................................................................................37 E.2 Establishment of the Canadian legislative and regulatory framework ............................................37 E.3 National safety requirements ...........................................................................................................37