Participant Funding for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Ltd.'s In Situ Decommissioning of the Whiteshell Reactor-1 Project

Participant funding for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Ltd.’s In Situ Decommissioning of the Whiteshell Reactor-1 Project will be open from March 11 to May 24, 2019.

Participant funding notice

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is offering another round of participant funding to assist Indigenous peoples, members of the public and stakeholders in the review of the environmental assessment and licence application, and in participating in a future Commission hearing process for the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Ltd. (CNL) In Situ Decommissioning of the Whiteshell Reactor-1 (WR-1) Project. The Commission has not yet announced any details, such as date or location, for a hearing on CNL’s application. For more information on the previous WR-1 funding opportunity, please see the previous participant funding notice.

Under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, CNL is requesting an amendment to its nuclear research and test establishment decommissioning licence for the Whiteshell Laboratories site, which includes the decommissioning of the WR-1 reactor. In its licence amendment application, CNL is seeking to change the WR-1 decommissioning strategy to in situ decommissioning. Before the CNSC can make a licensing decision on this proposal, an environmental assessment (EA) conducted under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 is required.

Please note that although CNL has applied for a 10-year licence renewal for the Whiteshell Laboratories site, the in situ decommissioning approach for the WR-1 will not be considered during the licence renewal proceedings scheduled for October 2019; a separate participant funding opportunity is being offered in that regard.

For further details on CNL’s proposal and the EA process, please see the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry, project #80124. The dates and location of associated CNSC public Commission hearings, as well as the ways in which the public will be invited to participate in them, will be announced at a later date in a notice of public hearing.

Up to $150,000 in participant funding will be disbursed among all successful applicants. Funding will be awarded for: the review of documentation, including the EA report; CNSC staff and CNL Commission member documents, when they become available; and participation in associated and yet-to-be announced public Commission hearings through the provision of new, distinctive and valuable information, by way of informed and topic-specific interventions to the Commission.

Applicants who were awarded funding under the previous WR-1 participant funding opportunity will be required to justify, in their new application, the need for additional funding to continue participating in the process.

To apply for participant funding, interested parties must complete and submit a participant funding application form. Certain terms and conditions apply. An application form can be submitted by:

• Email: pfp@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
• Mail: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
  c/o: Participant Funding Program Administrator
  P.O. Box 1046, Station B
  280 Slater Street
  Ottawa, ON, Canada K1P 5S9
• Fax: 613-995-5086

The deadline for submitting a participant funding application is May 24, 2019.

A funding review committee that is independent of the CNSC will consider all applications for funding and make recommendations on the allocation of funds.

The CNSC regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment; to implement Canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public.

For information on how to participate, view the In Situ Decommissioning of Whiteshell Reactor-1 and the Participant Funding Program sections of the CNSC website.

For questions about this specific funding opportunity, contact:

Adam Zenobi
Participant Funding Program Administrator
613-992-8469
pfp@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca