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2021 Cigar Lake Licence Renewal

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2021 Cigar Lake Licence Renewal Original CNSC Commission Member Document (CMD) CMD: 21-H2.1 Date Submitted: 05 February 2021 Reference CMDs: N/A Cameco Corporation Public Hearing Scheduled for: 28/29 April 2021 Request for a Licensing Decision: Regarding: Cigar Lake Operation Submitted by: Cameco Corporation Cigar Lake Operation Table of Contents Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Background ..........................................................................................................3 1.2 Summary of Application .......................................................................................6 2.0 Business Plan ..................................................................................................... 7 2.1 General ................................................................................................................7 3.0 Safety and Control Areas ................................................................................... 9 3.1 General ................................................................................................................9 3.2 Management System ......................................................................................... 10 3.3 Human Performance Management .................................................................... 12 3.4 Operating Performance ...................................................................................... 13 3.5 Safety Analysis .................................................................................................. 16 3.6 Physical Design ................................................................................................. 18 3.7 Fitness for Service ............................................................................................. 21 3.8 Radiation Protection ........................................................................................... 22 3.9 Conventional Health and Safety ......................................................................... 25 3.10 Environmental Protection ................................................................................... 30 3.11 Emergency Management and Fire Protection .................................................... 36 3.12 Waste Management ........................................................................................... 38 3.13 Security .............................................................................................................. 40 3.14 Safeguards and Non-proliferation ...................................................................... 41 3.15 Packaging and Transport ................................................................................... 41 4.0 Other Matters of Regulatory Interest .............................................................. 43 4.1 Indigenous Consultation..................................................................................... 43 4.2 Public Information Program ................................................................................ 43 4.3 Eastern Athabasca Regional Monitoring Program .............................................. 45 4.4 Community Based Environmental Monitoring ..................................................... 46 4.5 Cost Recovery ................................................................................................... 47 4.6 Decommissioning and Financial Guarantees ..................................................... 47 4.7 Other Regulatory Approvals ............................................................................... 47 5.0 Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 49 References ................................................................................................................... 50 CMD: 21-H2.1 i 05 February 2021 Cigar Lake Operation Executive Summary Cameco Corporation (Cameco) was granted renewal of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) licence for the Cigar Lake uranium mine (Cigar Lake Operation or Cigar Lake) following public Commission hearings on April 3-4, 2013. The current licence (UML-MINE-CIGAR.00/2021) is valid from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2021. This Commission Member Document provides a high-level summary of the licensing basis and supports Cameco’s request for a renewal of the Cigar Lake CNSC licence for a 10- year term. The Cigar Lake Operation is the second largest high-grade uranium mine in the world and has been in commercial operation since 2015. During the current licence term, Cigar Lake successfully transitioned through the final stages of commissioning and ramped up to full operational status. Cigar Lake achieved this while consistently implementing our programs and protecting the health and safety of its workers and the public, as well as the environment. The following are some highlights of Cigar Lake’s performance over the current licence term: • External recognition for conventional safety programs on three occasions during the licence term, winning the regional John T. Ryan safety trophy for metal mines in 2018, 2019 and 2020. • Injury statistics have all trended downward. • Low effective doses received by workers. • Measures implemented to reduce treated water loadings to the environment during initial commercial production years. Cameco continues to build understanding and support for Cigar Lake through communications and engagement activities described in the Public Information Program. As part of this effort, there has been a particular emphasis on engagement with the rights- bearing Indigenous communities of the Athabasca Basin that are located in the vicinity of Cigar Lake in accordance with Cameco’s collaboration agreements. Although the three First Nations and four municipalities are the primary audience for Cigar Lake, additional engagement is also focussed on local Métis people, Cameco employees and long-term contractors as well as the general public of the Northern Administrative District of Saskatchewan. Engagement activities during the current licence term focused on providing members of the public with ongoing updates on the site’s future through presentations, including discussion on the surface and underground facilities that were built at Cigar Lake in order to support the transition to commercial production. Engagement events were held in the current licence term for northern Saskatchewan communities in relation to Cigar Lake activities, including efforts specific to this licence renewal. In support of the Public Information Program, Cigar Lake maintains a Public Disclosure Protocol that was developed in accordance with guidance provided by the CNSC. The CMD: 21-H2.1 1 05 February 2021 Cigar Lake Operation Public Disclosure Protocol describes the types of routine and non-routine information that Cameco is committed to providing to target audiences. Key to the transition to commercial production was the ability of Cigar Lake to successfully implement the technology of using large-scale freezing from surface to isolate mine infrastructure and workers from the high-grade ore and the water-saturated Athabasca sandstone. In this regard, Cigar Lake was able to safely commission the Jet Boring System (JBS) units to enable mining of the orebody. Cameco declared that the Cigar Lake Operation had met all criteria necessary to achieve commercial production in May 2015 and has been able to safely produce at or near the nominal annual licensed capacity since that time. In March 2020, Cameco and Orano Canada Inc. (Orano) announced a temporary suspension of production at Cigar Lake as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Cameco’s priority is to protect the health and well-being of our employees, their families, and their communities. The proactive decision to suspend production was made to protect our employees and to help slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cameco developed and implemented exposure control measures for our northern Saskatchewan operations, including Cigar Lake. Cameco safely resumed production at Cigar Lake in September 2020. However, due to increasing risks posed by the pandemic and uncertainty regarding continuous access to qualified operational personnel, Cameco again suspended production at Cigar Lake in December 2020. Cameco believes that Cigar Lake has demonstrated strong performance throughout the current licence term through continuous improvement in our processes. Based on our performance during the current licence period, we have demonstrated that we are qualified to carry on the licensed activities planned for the proposed 10-year licence term and will, in doing so, make the necessary provisions for protecting the health and safety of workers and the public as well as the environment. CMD: 21-H2.1 2 05 February 2021 Cigar Lake Operation 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Location The Cameco Corporation (Cameco) Cigar Lake Operation (Cigar Lake) is a uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan. It is located approximately 660 km north of Saskatoon at the south end of Waterbury Lake (Figure 1.1-1). The closest communities to Cigar Lake are Hatchet Lake First Nation and the Northern Settlement of Wollaston Lake, which are located about 80 km to the east by air. Cigar Lake is connected by an access road leading to Saskatchewan
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