ii Preface Information in this Report covers the period up to March 31, 2011. However, given the timing of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the Report does not take into consideration actions taken by the CNSC with Class I Nuclear Facilities, mines and mills which include spent fuel bays and radioactive waste facilities. On March 22, 2011, under section 12(2) of the General Safety and Control Regulations (GNSCR), the CNSC requested all Class 1 licensed facilities in Canada to review initial lessons learned from the incident in Japan and to confirm that their overall safety cases remain strong. All licensees provided the requisite initial responses, identifying their proposed plans and schedules to meet the CNSC’s request. Licensees concluded that their overall safety cases remain strong. To confirm their findings, the CNSC has performed a series of inspections at each station. In addition, Canada will be participating in an Extraordinary Meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety in August 2012 on lessons learned from Fukushima. More information on the CNSC’s response is available at nuclearsafety.gc.ca 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 Third Review Meeting .....................................................................................................2 3.1 Canada continues progress for long-term management strategies by:...........................................................2 3.1 (a) Implementation of long-term management approaches for spent fuel ............................................2 3.1 (b) Fostering relationships gained through stakeholder consultation....................................................2 3.1 (c) Ensuring that there are adequate human resources to implement future work................................3 3.1 (d) Increasing regulatory efforts necessary to support future industry initiatives.................................5 3.1 (e) Continuing the production of supporting regulatory documentation ..............................................5 3.1 (f) Validation of model predictions for waste rock and tailings...........................................................5 3.1 (g) Decommissioning of older waste rock sites and the development of new tailings management capacity.......................................................................................................................6 3.1 (h) Continued implementation and ongoing funding requirements for AECL CRL (Nuclear Legacy Liability Program)...............................................................................................................6 3.1 (i) Finalization of the regulatory approval process for the low- and intermediate-level waste deep geological repository...............................................................................................................7 4.0 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................7 Section A – Introduction ..............................................................................................................................................9 A.1 Scope of the section .......................................................................................................................................9 A.2 Introduction....................................................................................................................................................9 A.3 Nuclear substances.......................................................................................................................................10 A.4 Canadian philosophy and approach to safety ..............................................................................................10 A.5 Fundamental principles................................................................................................................................11 A.6 Main safety issues........................................................................................................................................11 A.7 Survey of the main themes...........................................................................................................................11 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 (HLW).............................................................................................17 B.7.2 Intermediate-level radioactive waste (ILW)..................................................................................17 B.7.3 Low-level radioactive waste (LLW)..............................................................................................17 B.7.4 Uranium mine and mill waste........................................................................................................18 B.8 Operational responsibilities for long-term management..............................................................................18 B.9 Management practices for spent fuel ...........................................................................................................19 B.10 Management practices for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste..................................................20 B.11 Management practices for uranium mine waste rock and mill tailings .......................................................21 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 .................................................................................................25 C.6 Discharges....................................................................................................................................................26 v 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 – Radioactive waste management facilities...................................................28 D.4 Uranium mining and milling waste .............................................................................................................33 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......................................................................................................39 E.1 Scope of the section .....................................................................................................................................39 E.2 Establishment