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Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: Gentilly site

Site name Gentilly site
Licensees Canadian Nuclear Laboratories: Gentilly-1 (G1)

Hydro-Québec: Gentilly-2 (G-2)
Facility name Gentilly 1 and 2 nuclear facilities
Facility location Bécancour, Quebec
Land acknowledgement The CNSC acknowledges that the Gentilly site is located within the traditional and unceded territory of the Abenaki people and the W8banaki confederacy and the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat.
Facility description The 675-megawatt (Mwe) G-2 nuclear power reactor was permanently shut down in December 2012. In December 2014, the reactor completed the transition to a safe storage state, with its fuel stored in used fuel pools (wet storage) or in CANSTOR modules (dry storage). In December 2020, the transfer of all irradiated fuel to dry-storage CANSTOR modules was completed. Ongoing activities at G-2 are aimed at reaching a safe storage state under surveillance.

Near G-2 is the 250 MWe G-1 facility, which went into service in 1971 and produced power intermittently until 1979.

G-1 is a solid waste and used fuel dry storage facility.

G2 is a former nuclear power plant (currently under decommissioning) as well as a solid waste and used fuel dry storage facility.
Environmental protection requirements In accordance with regulatory requirements under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, all licensees must maintain a comprehensive environmental protection program to monitor and control nuclear and hazardous substances released from the facilities they own and operate. As part of every licensee’s environmental protection program, concentrations of contaminants in the environment must be determined and the potential exposure routes to the public must be assessed and mitigated.

Our IEMP results from 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2023 are consistent with the results submitted by Hydro-Québec and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, supporting our assessment that the licensees’ environmental protection programs are effective. The results add to the body of evidence that people and the environment in the vicinity of the Gentilly site are protected and that there are no anticipated health impacts from the operation of the facilities on the site.

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Gentilly site

1 The < symbol indicates that a result is below the provided laboratory analytical detection limit. 

2 N/A – not available. 

3 For radiological parameters (expressed as Bq/L, Bq/kg or Bq/m3) where no federal or provincial guidelines exist, our screening levels were established based on conservative assumptions using CSA standard N288.1-20, Guidelines for Modelling Radionuclide Environmental Transport, Fate, and Exposure Associated with the Normal Operation of Nuclear Facilities. The screening level for a particular radionuclide in a particular medium (e.g., water, air, food) represents the activity concentration that would result in a dose of 0.1 mSv/year, a dose at which no impacts on human health are expected. For more information, please refer to the IEMP technical information sheet.

4 Tritiated water (HTO) is a radioactive form of water where the usual hydrogen atoms (H2O) are replaced with tritium. Elemental tritium (HT) refers to the radioactive form of hydrogen gas. Organically bound tritium (OBT) is tritium that is bound to an organic molecule, such as a carbohydrate, fat or protein.

5 "-" No data available due to air-sampler malfunctioning.

2023 results

The 2023 IEMP sampling plan for the Gentilly site focused on radioactive substances. A site-specific sampling plan was developed based on the licensees’ approved environmental monitoring programs and our regulatory experience with the site. We endeavour to incorporate traditional Indigenous land use, values and knowledge by engaging with Indigenous Nations and communities on the sampling plan. More information on this engagement is provided in the “Indigenous Nations and communities’ participation” section.

In 2023, we collected air, water, soil, sediment, sand, vegetation and food samples in publicly accessible areas outside the facility perimeter.

The levels of radioactivity measured in those samples were below available guidelines and our own screening levels. Our screening levels are based on conservative assumptions about the exposure that would result in a dose of 0.1 millisievert (mSv) per year (one-tenth of the regulatory public dose limit of 1 mSv per year). Measurements conducted by the IEMP to date have consistently found levels of radioactivity in the environment to be low, and well within the range of natural background radiation levels. As a result, no effects on human health are expected.

CNSC employees taking water samples from the St. Lawrence River near Gentilly-2, September 2018.

2015, 2016, and 2018 results

All IEMP sampling plans for the G-2 site focused on radioactive contaminants. Each year’s site-specific sampling plan was developed based on the licensee’s approved environmental monitoring program and the CNSC’s regulatory experience with the site. CNSC staff collected air, soil, vegetation, water and food samples (such as milk and produce from local farms) in publicly accessible areas outside the G-2 site perimeter. The levels of radioactivity measured in these samples were below available guidelines and CNSC screening levels. CNSC screening levels are based on conservative assumptions about the exposure that would result in a dose of 0.1 mSv/year. No health impacts are expected at this dose level. View detailed sampling data.

The reference samples are taken in a location where there is likely no potential for exposure from the operations of the nuclear facility. The reference location is chosen based on distance from the operation and on meteorological data such as predominant wind direction or precipitation (for atmospheric releases) and water current (for effluent discharges). This allows us to collect local data that is representative of the region around the facility. The data is then compared with sampling results. This is especially important when background data, guidelines or screening levels do not exist for a certain contaminant or medium in a certain region.

Indigenous Nations and communities’ participation

We have made it a priority to ensure that IEMP sampling reflects Indigenous traditional knowledge, land use and values where possible. We see input from local Indigenous Nations and communities on our IEMP sampling activities and on our IEMP sampling plans. In advance of the 2023 IEMP sampling campaign around the Gentilly site, notification emails were sent to Indigenous Nations and communities near the site to notify them of the sampling campaign and to seek input on the sampling plan. We invited suggestions for species of interest, valued components, and potential sampling locations where traditional practices and activities may take place. Vegetation, food, soil and water were sampled.

W8banaki

During the summer of 2023, a project officer working for the W8linak Environment Office (BEW) joined the CNSC field team during sampling around the Gentilly site, located on the Ndakina (ancestral territory of the W8banaki Nation). She was able to learn more about the various water, soil and air inventory protocols used by the IEMP team, as well as take some IEMP samples under the team’s supervision. She also took the opportunity to describe some of the projects carried out by the BEW, including the sampling of biological tissues for contaminant analysis. No additional samples were requested during the campaign, but we remain open to working with members of the W8banaki Nation and their representatives to adapt the IEMP sampling plans to their needs and interests.

Focus on health

We review the results of public health reports and data, review international publications, and at times conduct our own health studies to provide further independent verification that the health of people living near the Gentilly site is protected.

The Institut de la statistique du Québec (Quebec statistical institute) and the Registre québécois du cancer (Quebec cancer registry) collect information on the health of people living in Quebec, including in the Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Québec (MCQ) health region, where the Gentilly site is located. Diseases and risk factors are compared to other populations (including larger reference populations such as Quebec and Canada) to detect any potential health outcomes that may be of concern.

Similar to the populations of Canada and Quebec, for the most recently reported year of 2020, the cancer burden in MCQ was primarily lung cancer, breast cancer (females), prostate cancer (males) and colorectal cancer. Also similar to the populations of Canada and Quebec in 2020, the cancer types with the highest mortality were lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and breast (females). Cancer incidence and mortality (for all cancer types combined, all ages, both sexes) has been increasing in Canada, Quebec and MCQ since the 1980s. 

In 2003, the Régie régionale de la sante et des services sociaux de la Mauricie et du Centre-du-Québeć (Regional health and social services board of Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec) compared cancer incidence and mortality in the vicinity of the Gentilly site with the general population of Quebec between 1994 and 1998. The study concluded that there was no excess risk of cancer in the Gentilly area.

Furthermore, a 2013 CNSC study on the health of people living near nuclear power plants in Ontario found that all cancers for all age groups were similar to the general population of Ontario. In particular, there was no evidence of an increase in childhood leukemia among people living near nuclear power plants. These findings are consistent with research studies conducted around nuclear power plants in other countries (i.e., the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Finland). The body of evidence demonstrates that people who live near nuclear power plants are as healthy as the rest of the general Canadian population.

Incidence rates of different cancer types often vary by region and are influenced by many factors, including lifestyle (e.g., smoking, high alcohol intake, overweight/obesity, and overdue cancer screening). It is recognized that the opportunity to be healthy is not the same for everyone, and is affected by personal, social, economic and environmental factors.

Health status data for Indigenous Peoples is not reported separately by the Institut de la statistique du Québec and the Registre québécois du cancer; however, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (National public health institute of Quebec) provides Indigenous health research monitoring of public health issues relevant to Indigenous public health action in Quebec, specifically with respect to disease prevention and health promotion.

Based on current levels of radionuclides in the environment; exposures to people living in the area; the current scientific knowledge about the sources, effects and risks of ionizing radiation; and relevant local, provincial and federal health data, we have not observed and do not expect to observe any adverse health outcomes related to the presence of the decommissioned G-1 and G-2 nuclear generating stations. For further information, access the CNSC Health Studies page.

If you would like more general health information for your community, please visit the following websites:
https://ciusssmcq.ca/
https://statistique.quebec.ca/en
https://www.quebec.ca/sante/systeme-et-services-de-sante/organisation-des-services/donnees-systeme-sante-quebecois-services/donnees-cancer
https://www.inspq.qc.ca/en/indigenous-health

Conclusions

Our IEMP results from 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2023 are consistent with the results submitted by Hydro-Québec for G-2 and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for G-1, supporting our assessment that the licensees’ environmental protection programs are effective. The results add to the body of evidence that people and the environment in the vicinity of the Gentilly site are protected and that there are no anticipated health impacts from the operation of the facilities on the site.

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