Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: Shield Source Incorporated Nuclear Processing Facility

Publication date: October 14, 2016

Shield Source Incorporated. (SSI) was licensed by the CNSC to operate the Shield Source Inc. Nuclear Processing Facility (SSI facility), located in Peterborough, ON. From 1986 to March 2014, SSI was licensed to process tritium gas to produce gaseous tritium light sources and to manufacture radiation devices containing these sources. In March 2013, SSI announced it would close its Peterborough facility. Following the announcement, SSI contracted a qualified third party to clean up and decontaminate the facility for public use. At the same time, CNSC staff conducted extensive sampling and verification activities to ensure that the clean-up and decontamination met all regulatory requirements and that the facility could be released from regulatory control.

Following the clean-up, the CNSC staff published a document titled Report on the Clean-up and Abandonment of Shield Source Inc. On March 28, 2014, the Commission issued a licence to abandon the SSI nuclear substance processing facility.

The Independent Environmental Monitoring Program (IEMP) results for 2013, 2014 and 2015 confirm that the public and the environment around the SSI facility are safe and that there are no health impacts.

• Interactive map
• Data table Shield Source Incorporated Nuclear Processing Facility CSV (11 kb)
• Overview of the sampling campaign
• Results: (2015) (2014) (2013)

Background

Under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act (NSCA), 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 the facility’s nuclear activities. The results of these monitoring programs are submitted to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (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 safe. It is separate from, but complementary to, the CNSC’s ongoing compliance verification program. The IEMP involves taking samples from public areas around the facilities, and measuring and analyzing the amount of radiological (nuclear) and hazardous substances in those samples. CNSC staff collect the samples and send them to the CNSC’s state-of-the-art laboratory for testing and analysis. Since the implementation of the IEMP, the area outside of the SSI site perimeter was sampled in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

2015 results

The 2015 IEMP sampling plan for the SSI site focused on tritium. A site-specific sampling plan was developed based on SSI’s historic approved environmental monitoring program, CSA Group (CSA) standards and the CNSC’s regulatory experience with the site. In October 2015, samples were collected in publicly accessible areas outside the SSI site perimeter and included water, soil, and vegetation from locations outside of the SSI perimeter fence.View detailed sampling data

The measured radioactivity in water samples is below federal and provincial drinking water quality guidelines. Based on the measured radioactivity in the samples collected, no health impacts are expected as a result of exposure to the water sampled.

The radioactivity measured in soil and vegetation samples was below available federal/provincial guidelines and CNSC reference levels. CNSC reference levels are based on conservative assumptions about the exposure that would result in a dose of 0.1 mSv/year. Based on the radionuclide activity concentrations measured in the samples collected, no health impacts are expected.

To obtain the full technical IEMP report, 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.

2014 results

The 2014 IEMP sampling plan for the SSI site focused on tritium. A site-specific sampling plan was developed based on SSI’s historic approved environmental monitoring program, CSA Group (CSA) standards and the CNSC’s regulatory experience with the site. In September 2014, samples were collected in publicly accessible areas outside the SSI site perimeter and included water, soil and vegetation, air and foodstuffs such as apples from locations outside of the SSI perimeter fence.View detailed sampling data

The measured radioactivity in water samples is below federal and provincial drinking water quality guidelines. Based on the measured radioactivity in the samples collected, no health impacts are expected as a result of exposure to the water sampled.

The radioactivity measured in soil, air and vegetation samples, as well as samples of apples, was below available federal/provincial guidelines and CNSC reference levels. CNSC reference levels are based on conservative assumptions about the exposure that would result in a dose of 0.1 mSv/year. Based on the radionuclide activity concentration measured in the samples collected, no health impacts are expected.

To obtain the full technical IEMP report, 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.

2013 results

The 2013 IEMP sampling plan for the SSI site focused on tritium. A site-specific sampling plan was developed based on SSI’s historic approved environmental monitoring program, CSA Group (CSA) standards and the CNSC’s regulatory experience with the site. In June 2013, samples were collected in publicly accessible areas outside the SSI site perimeter and included water, soil, vegetation, air and foodstuffs such as apples from locations outside of the SSI perimeter fence.View detailed sampling data

The measured radioactivity in water samples is below federal and provincial drinking water quality guidelines. Based on the measured radioactivity in the samples collected, no health impacts are expected as a result of exposure to the water sampled.

The radioactivity measured in soil, air and vegetation samples, as well as samples of apples, were below available federal/provincial guidelines and CNSC reference levels. CNSC reference levels are based on conservative assumptions about the exposure that would result in a dose of 0.1 mSv/year. Based on the radionuclide activity concentrations measured in the samples collected, no health impacts are expected.

To obtain the full technical IEMP report, 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.

Conclusions

IEMP results for 2013, 2014 and 2015 indicate that the public and the environment in the vicinity of the former SSI facility are safe and that there are no health impacts. Additionally, the three years of IEMP results provide confidence that tritium concentrations in the environment are decreasing over time. Please refer to the CNSC’s Report on the Clean-up and Abandonment of Shield Source Inc. for more information.