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Financial guarantees for class II nuclear facilities and prescribed equipment

A financial guarantee is a tangible commitment by a licensee that there will be sufficient resources to safely terminate licensed activities that are authorized under all licences issued by the CNSC for nuclear substances, prescribed equipment and Class II facilities. Failure to properly terminate licensed activities can result in risk to the health and safety of persons and the environment. A financial guarantee does not relieve licensees from complying with regulatory requirements for termination of licensed activities, but ensures there are funds available when licensees are unable to carry out safe termination.

How are financial guarantee requirements calculated?

The following information is used to calculate financial guarantee requirements for a specific licence. The total financial guarantee requirement is obtained by adding:

  1. 1. 1) Liability for each sealed source having an activity > 50 MBq which is NOT installed in CII Prescribed Equipment, such as Sr-90 eye applicators for brachytherapy:

    $3,000 per source

    The following sources have been excluded from this portion of the estimate:

    1. Transient sources which are only occasionally in the licensee's possession for short periods of time, such as replacement sources for HDR brachytherapy or cobalt teletherapy units
    2. Short lived manual brachytherapy sources used for either temporary or permanent implants, such as I-125 seeds or Ir-192 ribbons or wires
  2. 2) Liability for each item of Class II prescribed equipment other than isotope production accelerators (e.g., PET cyclotrons) and high activity irradiators (including cobalt teletherapy, Gamma Knife, and calibration and research irradiators):

    $4,000 per item

  3. This rate includes items such as most medical, industrial and research accelerators, and brachytherapy remote afterloaders.
  4. 3) Liability for isotope production accelerators such as cyclotrons, and for high activity irradiators such as cobalt teletherapy, Gamma Knife, and calibration and research irradiators:

    $90,000 per item

  5. 4) There is NO liability estimate associated with a licence to service Class II prescribed equipment, or for a licence to construct or decommission a Class II Nuclear Facility

For example, a licensee with three accelerators (3x$4,000), one HDR unit (1x$4,000), a cobalt teletherapy unit (1x$90,000) and an eye applicator (1x$3,000) has a total liability of $109,000.

Use our financial guarantee calculator for Class II nuclear facilities and prescribed equipment to calculate your liability and contribution

Financial Guarantee Calculator

1) Number of Sealed Sources

2) Number of items of prescribed equipment

3) Number of isotope production accelerators, cobalt teletherapy and Class II irradiators

How can fee-paying licensees comply with financial guarantee requirements?

Licensees can opt to pay an annual financial contribution (currently estimated at 0.40% of their total calculated liability for safe termination of their licensed activities) to comply with financial guarantee requirements. This contribution will range from $25 to $4,000 per year.

To pay your annual financial guarantee contribution, visit the financial guarantee web portal . You will need the initial login information provided to you by the CNSC to access the site.

Licensees with complex activities, facilities and equipment that do not fit the formula described can propose an alternative financial guarantee, which the CNSC will evaluate.

Licensees considering alternative financial guarantee instruments should contact the CNSC as early as possible to ensure due consideration and review of the proposed alternative.

How can fee-exempt licensees comply with financial guarantee requirements?

Licensed public institutions such as hospitals, universities and government departments must acknowledge their financial liability (calculated from the model formula above) through a signed Representatives of Applicants and Licensees form . Licensed public institutions do not have to set aside any specific funds or financial instrument, or pay an annual financial contribution to the CNSC to meet their financial guarantee obligations. They are supported by federal, provincial or municipal governments, which are expected to assume the cost for safe termination of their licensed activities.

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