HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE COMMERCIAL WASTE IS SHIPPED FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO CANADA AND THE CHALK RIVER LABORATORIES

Dr. Ole Hendrikson, researcher for Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area brings forth concerns. CNL responds.

In an emailed response to further questions put forth by WATERTODAY, Dr. Hendrickson points to a CCRA Letter dated May 20, 2021 to the then-Minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O-Reagan: (see full letter below)

Canadian companies such as Nordion, Best Theratronics, and SRB Technologies are doing a brisk trade in waste imports in the form of disused sealed sources and expired self-luminous tritium devices. These companies do not necessarily limit their imports to devices of their own manufacture. Imported radioactive wastes are being sent to CRL, where they become the property of the Government of Canada.

Dr. Hendrickson has provided WT with a March 25, 2026 update on this topic. (Please see below for the full update as posted on the CCRA website.)

Here are a few of the highlights found in the update:

• Canada’s Policy for Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning says that “radioactive sources that were not from Canada may be brought to Canada.” Under this policy, Nordion and Best Theratronics engage in a brisk trade in radioactive waste.

• This radioactive waste, much of it imported from other countries, is sent to Chalk River. CNL plans to dispose of all the commercial waste at Chalk River in a million-cubic-metre landfill called the NSDF. The maximum activity of cobalt-60 that the NSDF could safely accommodate (according to Waste Acceptance Criteria developed jointly by CNL and CNSC) is 9,060 Terabecquerels. This is roughly twice the combined cobalt-60 inventory of Nordion and Best Theratronics. The NSDF would provide them with a “solution” for their imported radioactive waste cobalt-60 devices, at public expense.

• CNL has stated its intent to put all the commercial waste that is sent to Chalk River into the NSDF. But the waste acceptance criteria for landfill, which supposedly represent protective limits, could be exceeded by a very large amount. Results of a 2019 ATIP request illustrate this risk (View and download the ATIP response HERE

• Nordion was sold to an American company in 2014. It is now owned by Sotera Health, headquartered in Broadview Heights, Ohio. The 2019 ATIP results show that Nordion sent a waste shipment to Chalk River in 2018 with 34 Terabecquerels of niobium-94. With a half-life of 20,300 years, niobium-94 poses a major long-term radioactive hazard. This single shipment contained over 1400 times the maximum activity of niobium-94 that would be allowed in the NSDF. The NSDF Waste Acceptance Criteria allow only 23.4 Gigabecquerels, or 0.0234 Terabecquerels.

• Other American-owned companies shipped radioactive waste to Chalk River during the 2014-2018 period, including Permafix NW, headquartered in Richland, Washington, which made seven waste shipments totalling 8.3 tonnes; BWXT Nuclear Energy, owned by BWX Technologies in Lynchburg, Virginia; and Energy Solutions, owned by TriArtisan Partners in New York City.

• SRB, Nordion, and Best Theratronics import radioactive waste from foreign countries that they did not manufacture. Large quantities of foreign-origin radioactive waste, much of it highly radioactive, is shipped to Canada for storage and eventual disposal at Chalk River, where it becomes the responsibility of Canadian taxpayers.

CNL Responds

WATERTODAY received an email response from Corporate Communications

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

WT: A Group of signatories were added to a Letter sent by Bloc Quebecois environment critic Patrick Bonin to Mark Carney

Would you briefly address the main points please.

CNL:As outlined in CNL’s comprehensive Integrated Waste Strategy, CNL is conducting consolidation of the majority of Canada’s federally managed nuclear waste at the Chalk River Laboratories. This consolidation also includes a small amount of waste generated by hospitals, laboratories and universities.

CNL’s strategy is aligned with Canada’s national policy to reduce the number of waste sites by centralizing the safe and secure storage of nuclear waste.

 In regards to nuclear fuels, as outlined in CNL’s comprehensive Integrated Waste Strategy, the fuel is now securely stored in modern purpose-built canisters at the Chalk River Laboratories – where it will remain until the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s planned long-term disposal facility for used nuclear fuel becomes available.

WT: The letter states “Imports of radioactive waste from other countries to Canada should cease.”

 CNL: Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) does not import radioactive waste. Under specific circumstances, CNL ships nuclear materials belonging to Canada to the United States for volume reduction processing. This waste is then returned to CNL for storage. This practice is carried out safely and in accordance with Article 27 of the United Nations Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.

WT: Please address the concern that Transportation of intermediate- and high-level radioactive waste on public highways is dangerous and unnecessary.

CNL: Radioactive material has been transported safely nationally and internationally by road, rail, water, and air for over 80 years without a single radiological incident. It is a highly regulated activity that must meet the stringent requirements of both Transport Canada and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) before being approved. Canada has decades of experience in transporting radioactive materials and has an excellent safety record. Thousands of shipments containing radioactive material are transported safely in Canada each year.

CNL’s Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Program meets the stringent requirements of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations and the CNSC Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations, allowing for safe shipping within Canada and globally.

WT: Is there a possible threat to the drinking water of millions of Canadians? (a concern expressed by various groups regarding the storage of nuclear waste)

CNL: Drinking water in any location downriver is not at risk. The materials will be secured in modern engineered packages and facilities designed to contain contamination and protect the surrounding environment.

 Related:

  Are Canadian taxpayers on the hook to cover the full costs of looking after this waste in perpetuity?

Canada’s Policy for Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning

Stay with WATERTODAY for Part Four