Participant Funding Program decision – Orano Canada Inc.'s licence amendment application for the expansion of the JEB Tailings Management Facility at the McClean Lake Operation

The CNSC announced on February 1, 2021 that it was offering a total of $100,000 under its Participant Funding Program (PFP). This funding was to assist Indigenous peoples, members of the public, and stakeholders in participating in the Commission hearing for a licence amendment application from Orano Canada Inc. (Orano) to expand the JEB tailings management facility at the McClean Lake Operation.

Background

Participant funding was made available by the CNSC to:

• provide new, distinctive and valuable information to the CNSC through informed and topic-specific interventions
• assist interested parties in reviewing the licence amendment application and in participating in the Commission hearing process for Orano’s McClean Lake Operation.

A funding review committee (FRC), independent of the CNSC, was established to review the funding applications received by the CNSC’s PFP administrator and to make recommendations on allocating up to $100,000 to eligible applicants. The FRC was given the flexibility to recommend funding beyond $100,000 based on the value-added of the funding applications received.

The FRC members were:

• Paul Scott, retired regional director of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Vancouver office
• Steve Burgess, retired director of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
• Bruce Young, retired director of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 

The CNSC received 3 PFP applications requesting a total of $139,692.50, and these were reviewed by the FRC.  

Eligibility and funding criteria

For more information on participant funding and how it works, including details about eligibility and funding criteria, read the PFP guide.

CNSC participant funding decision

The CNSC has carefully considered the FRC’s recommendations on the allocation of participant funding for Orano’s licence amendment application for the expansion of the JEB TMF at the McClean Lake Operation and has approved reimbursements of up to $105,680 for the following recipients:

Applicant	Maximum amount of available funding
Ya’thi Néné Land and Resource Office*	$50,000
English River First Nation	$25,680
Métis Nation-Saskatchewan	$30,000
Total	$105,680

*After being awarded funding, the Ya’thi Néné Land and Resource Office indicated it would no longer be participating at the Commission hearing.

Additional information:

Adam Zenobi
Participant Funding Program Administrator, CNSC
Tel.: 613-415-2814
Email: pfp@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca