Participant funding to review the draft Environmental Impact Statement for NexGen Energy Ltd.'s Rook I project

Participant funding for NexGen Energy Ltd.’s Rook I project will be open from May 25 to August 28, 2020.

Participant funding notice

The CNSC is offering participant funding to assist Indigenous peoples, members of the public, and stakeholders in the review of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Rook I project by NexGen Energy Ltd. (NexGen).

NexGen is proposing to develop an underground uranium mine on the Patterson Lake peninsula in the southwestern Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, approximately 155 km north of the village of La Loche, Saskatchewan. The proposed project includes underground and surface facilities to support the mining and processing of uranium ore. The main components include:

• Underground mine development
• An onsite mill to process an average of 1,400 tonnes of ore per day
• Surface facilities to support the short- and long-term storage of waste rock and ore
• An underground tailings management facility
• Water-handling infrastructure and an effluent treatment circuit
• Additional infrastructure to support mining activities

CNSC authorization in the form of a licence issued under subsection 24(2) of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act is required in order for the project to proceed. Before the Commission can make a decision regarding NexGen’s proposal, an environmental assessment (EA) conducted under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, is required.

For further details on NexGen’s proposal and the EA process, please see Canadian Impact Assessment Registry project #80171. The dates and location of public Commission hearings 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 eligible applicants for the provision of new, distinctive and valuable information on NexGen’s upcoming draft EIS and related documentation. The first phase of funding is intended to assist in the review of the draft EIS, which is anticipated to be submitted in late 2020 or early 2021. A second phase of funding to assist with participation in the remainder of the regulatory process, including the review of the EA report and related Commission Member Documents, will be announced at a later date.

To apply, 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

Deadline for submitting a participant funding application: August 28, 2020.

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

For questions about this specific funding opportunity, contact:

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

Related links

• Participant Funding Program
• Rook I project