Regulatory review status for Wheeler River project

Denison Mines Corporation (Denison) is proposing to develop an in situ recovery uranium mining and processing operation – the Wheeler River project – located in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, approximately 600 kilometres north of the City of Saskatoon.

Specifically, Denison is proposing to develop an operation that would produce up to 5,400 tonnes of uranium oxide annually for 20 years.

Authorization from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is required in the form of a licence issued under subsection 24(2) of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA), in order for the proposed project to proceed. However, before the Commission can make an NSCA licensing decision on this proposal, CNSC staff must complete an environmental assessment (EA) under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012).

Although the Impact Assessment Act came into force on August 28, 2019, it contains provisions for ongoing projects to be completed under CEAA 2012. This means that the CNSC will continue to lead the review of this project.

The completion of an EA under CEAA 2012 involves producing an EA report based on the information in Denison’s project description, a final environmental impact statement (EIS) and other supporting documentation.

CNSC’s environmental assessment process

CNSC staff must have reviewed enough evidence and be able to show that the proposed Wheeler River project activities would not cause significant adverse environmental effects, before the Commission can proceed with its decision. The CNSC will make this information available as Commission member documents before a public hearing. Denison has not yet submitted a licence application. The project is also under review by the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment’s Environmental Assessment and Stewardship branch.

Environmental assessment start date: May 31, 2019
Reference number: 80178

Timeline

Application submitted
Date	Activity
	A licence application for a CNSC licence has not yet been submitted.

Assessments
Date	Activity
May 31, 2019	Notice of commencement of the EA
May 31, 2019	Public comments invited on project description
December 2019	Commission hearing on the scope of EA
December 20, 2019	Record of decision on the scope of the EA
March 20, 2020	Temporary suspension of the EA
January 25, 2021	Resumption of the EA
January 10, 2022	Notice of participant funding offering for draft EIS review (1)
September 13, 2022	CNSC webinar – CNSC regulatory review process
October 21, 2022	CNSC conformity review of draft EIS
November 21, 2022	Start of the CNSC and federal/provincial technical review of draft EIS
November 21, 2022	Public comments invited on draft EIS
March 21, 2023	CNSC completes initial review of draft EIS
June 27, 2023	Public comments have been consolidated into detailed tables for response by the proponent and regulators
August 11, 2023	Denison submits responses to the Federal Indigenous Review Team’s information requests
August 30, 2023	The Federal Indigenous Review Team begins the technical review phase of the responses submitted by Denison
December 8, 2023	Results of the technical review phase by the Federal Indigenous Review Team
February 10, 2024	Denison re-submits a draft EIS package to the Federal Indigenous Review Team
February 21, 2024	The Federal Indigenous Review Team begins the technical review phase of the draft EIS package
To be confirmed	Denison submission of final EIS
To be confirmed	Notice of participant funding offering (2)
To be confirmed	CNSC staff Commission member document and EA report available for public review
To be confirmed	Public intervention deadline

Public hearing
Date	Activity
To be confirmed

Commission decisions
Date	Activity
To be confirmed

Licence issued
Date	Activity
To be confirmed

Compliance activities
Date	Activity
To be confirmed

Contact

For general CNSC updates, subscribe to the CNSC’s mailing list. For information directly related to this project, please contact:

Environmental Assessment Division
Email: WheelerRiver@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
Telephone: 613-995-7948 or 1-800-668-5284

Mailing address: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
P. O. Box 1046, Station B
Ottawa, ON K1P 5S9

Additional resources

• Canadian Impact Assessment Registry on the Wheeler River project
• Uranium mines and mills
• Uranium mines and mills waste