Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: McClean Lake Operation

Orano Canada Inc. (formerly AREVA Resources Canada Inc.) is licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to operate the McClean Lake Operation, located in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. The licence authorizes Orano to operate a nuclear facility consisting of a uranium mine and mill and waste management systems, and to produce uranium concentrate. Development of the project began in March 1995 and construction and commissioning were completed in 1997. The McClean Lake mill was temporarily shut down in July 2010 because of a lack of ore. In March 2014, ore slurry shipments from Cameco’s Cigar Lake mine commenced and the mill restarted in September 2014. Orano has a comprehensive environmental protection program to monitor and control nuclear and hazardous substances released from the site, determine concentrations in the environment, and assess exposure to the public.

The Independent Environmental Monitoring Program (IEMP) results for 2016 indicate that the public and the environment in the vicinity of McClean Lake Operation are protected and that there is no unreasonable risk to health and the environment.

• Interactive map
• Data table McClean Lake Operation CSV (129 kb)
• Overview of the sampling campaign
• Results: (2016)

Background

Under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, licensees of nuclear facilities are required to implement an environmental monitoring program to demonstrate that the public and the environment are protected from emissions related to their facilities' nuclear activities. The results of these monitoring programs are submitted to the CNSC to ensure compliance with applicable guidelines and limits, as set out in regulations that oversee Canada's nuclear industry.

The CNSC has implemented its IEMP to verify that the public and the environment around licensed nuclear facilities are protected. It is separate from, but complementary to, the CNSC's ongoing compliance verification program. The IEMP involves taking samples from publicly accessible areas around the facilities, and measuring and analyzing the amount of radiological (nuclear) and non-radiological (hazardous) substances in those samples. Since the implementation of the IEMP, the area outside of the McClean Lake Operation site perimeter was sampled in 2016.

2016 results

The 2016 IEMP sampling plan for the McClean Lake Operation focused on both radiological (nuclear) and non-radiological (hazardous) contaminants. A site-specific sampling plan was developed taking into account Orano's environmental monitoring program and the CNSC's regulatory experience with the site. In August 2016, radon, surface water, fish, blueberries and Labrador tea were collected at a reference station not exposed to activities of the McClean Lake Operation (Mallen Lake) and at an exposure station (Kewen Lake), both located outside the McClean Lake Operation site perimeter.

For radiological substances, CNSC staff compared monitoring results to CNSC's screening levels to ensure that human health and the environment are protected. CNSC screening levels are established based on conservative assumptions about the how a member of the public is exposed and using CSA standard N288.1-14, Guidelines for calculating derived release limits for radioactive material in airborne and liquid effluents for normal operation of nuclear facilities. The screening level for a particular radionuclide in a particular medium (e.g., water, air and foodstuff) represents the activity concentration that would result in a dose of 0.1 mSv per year. The approach used by CNSC staff to calculate a screening level is similar to Health Canada and World Health Organization's approach for drinking water guidelines, where 0.1 mSv per year is also used. The screening levels developed for the McClean Lake IEMP sampling campaign are conservative and based on ingestion rates for a regional Indigenous diet.

The measured radioactivity in some fish samples showed levels of polonium-210 and lead-210 that were slightly above the highly conservative CNSC's screening levels. These concentrations were identified in fish caught from both the exposure station and the reference station. The reference station is not impacted by the operation of the facility and is considered background. These levels are also within the natural background of the region and below the public dose limit of 1 mSv per year. These levels are not expected to result in any adverse health effects.

With the exception of the fish samples discussed above, the measured radioactivity in the water, fish, blueberries and Labrador tea samples were below CNSC's screening levels and are within natural background levels. Also, sampling of radon in ambient air was conducted over an one-year period.  The results show that radon in ambient air at the reference and exposure locations were within natural background levels.

For non-radiological parameters where no guidelines exist, CNSC screening levels (Toxicological Reference Values (TRV)) were calculated. The CNSC screening level represents the concentration required for a representative person (adult/child) to receive a non-radiological dose of 10% the Health Canada's tolerable daily intake (TDI) due to exposure to the contaminants from multiple food ingestion pathways, such as drinking water, fruits, vegetables and fish/meat. A TDI is a daily amount of a non-radiological substance that has been assessed as safe for humans on a long-term basis.

The concentration of selenium in fish at the exposure station is similar to those measured at the reference location and is within natural background of the region. Selenium concentrations measured in fish samples from both the exposure and reference stations were higher than the CNSC screening level.

The highest concentration of selenium in fish was analyzed at Mallen Lake (reference location) in sample ML01-F02G at 0.67 mg/kg fresh weight. The contribution from other ingestion pathways including blueberries, water and from Labrador tea was negligible. Considering that only a fraction of the TDI has been reached, and taking into account the margin of safety built into the CNSC screening levels, no adverse health effects due to selenium at these levels are expected from the public from the consumption of fish.

Concentrations of arsenic in two fish samples at the exposure station (Kewen Lake) marginally exceeded the CNSC screening level. Taking into account the margin of safety built into the CNSC screening level and the fact that only a fraction of the TDI was reached, no adverse health effects due to arsenic at these levels are expected from the consumption of fish.

With the exception of arsenic and selenium in fish flesh samples discussed above, the concentration of other non-radiological substances in fish, blueberries and Labrador tea are below the CNSC screening levels.

Concentrations of water samples analyzed, with the exception of pH, are below the CCME guidelines and within the natural background levels. The pH level in the exposure station water sample was slightly below the guideline range; however the result is within known regional background levels. The pH in this area is naturally low because of high organic acid content associated with bog drainages. There is no concern to the environment or to human health at these pH levels.

View detailed sampling data.

Conclusions

The IEMP results for 2016 indicate that the public and the environment around the McClean Lake Operation are protected and that there are no health or environmental impacts. These results are consistent with results submitted by Orano, demonstrating that the licensee's environmental protection program monitors and protects the health and safety of people and the environment.

To obtain the full technical IEMP reports, contact us at cnsc.info.ccsn@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca or call 613-995-5894 or 1-800-668-5284 (in Canada). Please provide the name of the facility and the report year.