Document history of DIS-22-01, Proposal to Amend the Class II Nuclear Facilities and Prescribed Equipment Regulations

View DIS-22-01 [HTML] [PDF | 26 pages, 372 KB]

Summary

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has identified considerations for a potential revision of the Class II Nuclear Facilities and Prescribed Equipment Regulations (C2NFPER). If revised, the new version would supersede the existing C2NFPER, dated 2000 (last substantially amended in May 2010). This discussion paper is being issued to provide information and solicit feedback on these considerations.

The CNSC was mindful of the following goals while performing this regulatory review:

• modernize the C2NFPER to reflect the latest technological changes, and where possible, strive to create technology-neutral regulations
• incorporate the operational experience gained since the last regulatory review in performing licensing and compliance verification activities involving Class II prescribed equipment
• allow for flexibility while still ensuring safety
• reduce regulatory burden through streamlining and removal of duplicate requirements, where they exist
• ensure that the C2NFPER are logical and align with existing good practices, where they exist
• make the C2NFPER easier to understand and use for all stakeholders

In addition to the general need to harmonize and modernize the C2NFPER in light of the evolution of the CNSC's regulatory framework over the past 20 years, several specific considerations for changes are outlined. These considerations include:

• regulation of all particle accelerators (including high-energy accelerators currently regulated as Class IB facilities) under the Class II regime
• regulation of Class II prescribed equipment that is intended to be operated outside a shielded facility, and clarification of the term “Class II nuclear facility” as it pertains to the C2NFPER
• introduction of a two-stream approach to licensing in order to allow for different licensing approaches between mass-produced standard Class II equipment/facilities and unique non-standard Class II equipment/facilities
• a shift towards generic, outcome-based radiation protection safety system requirements, with guidance on how these requirements should be implemented contained in an associated regulatory document
• introduction of provisions allowing for the amendment and expiry of certificates issued to Class II radiation safety officers (RSOs), and for the recertification of RSOs
• changes to the activities that may be carried out without a CNSC licence, and changes to existing exemptions from equipment and personnel (RSO) certification
• ease-of-use changes to many sections of the C2NFPER, such as re-ordering and grouping to better reflect how these sections are actually used by stakeholders (in particular those sections that detail the information to be submitted to the CNSC in support of a licence or certificate application)

Status

Consultation on DIS-22-01 has closed.

Document milestone	Dates	Links
Consultation	August 16 to November 14, 2022	DIS-22-01 [HTML] [PDF | 26 pages, 372 KB]