Overview

There are 22 licenced reactors in Canada, of which 18 are currently operating. Nuclear power contributes about 14% of the total electricity supply in Canada. The power plants are located in Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec. All reactors in Canada are the 'Canada Deuterium Uranium type' (CANDU).

Canada is the world's largest uranium producer, the uranium coming from 5 mines in Saskatchewan.

Nuclear energy in Canada is regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) which replaced the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB) in June 2000 under a new Nuclear Safety and Control Act.


Following failed attempts by a government Task Force to identify suitable sites for disposal of the so-called 'historic' wastes around Lake Ontario, NRCan and the municipalities of Port Hope (formerly the Town of Port Hope and the Township of Hope) and Clarington entered into a legal agreement for the clean-up and long-term management of these wastes on March 29, 2001. In February 2004 the LLRWMO announced proposals to develop a facility in each of the communities of Port Hope and Clarington, as a result of detailed local studies. Draft environmental impact studies for both projects are to be made available for public and expert review in late February 2005.....

 

Following a period of uncertainty as regards timing, the recommendations contained in the 1998 statement were amalgamated into a new Bill, which was passed by the Canadian parliament in February 2002, received the Royal Assent in July 2002 and came into force on 15^th November 2002.

Under Bill C-27, the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act (NFWA), the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) was established. Its members are Ontario Power Generation, Hydro Quebec and New Brunswick Power. The NFWA required the NWMO to complete a study of approaches within three years, and put forward a recommended plan to the federal government for the long-term management of spent fuel by November 15th 2005. An Advisory Group was also established to assist the NWMO in its work, members of which were independent experts in Science, Engineering and Social Science.

NWMO released its Final Study Report on 3rd November 2005, as mandated by the NFWA. The Study proposes a 3-Stage 'Adaptive Phased Approach', involving storage at existing reactor sites during which time a URL would be constructed at a candidate repository location. Used fuel will also be stored in a shallow facility prior to disposal, probably at the same site as the repository........