Participant funding for Chalk River Laboratories' site licence renewal

Participant funding for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) Chalk River Laboratories’ (CRL) site licence renewal will be open from June 9, 2017 to September 15, 2017.

Participant funding notice

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is offering participant funding to assist members of the public, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders in participating in the licence application review and the Commission’s public hearing process for the renewal of CNL’s nuclear research and test establishment operating licence for the CRL site. CNL has requested a licence renewal until April 1, 2028. This facility is located in Chalk River, Ontario, approximately 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.

The current licence, which expires on March 31, 2018, authorizes CNL to operate the CRL site, which comprises a range of nuclear facilities, radioisotope labs, waste management facilities and other supporting facilities.

The CNSC will hold a public hearing on January 24 and 25, 2018 in Pembroke, Ontario, to consider CNL’s site licence renewal request. With this request, CNL is seeking approval to continue operation of the site for a 10-year period, during which CNL will modernize and consolidate the operations at the site, including the shutdown of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor and various infrastructure and site improvements.

A total of $75,000 in participant funding is being offered for the provision of new, distinctive and valuable information, through informed and topic-specific interventions to the Commission. Funding will be awarded for the review of CNL’s licence renewal application and associated documents, including CNSC staff and CNL's Commission member documents, and for participation in the Commission's public hearing.

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 as follows:

• 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 K1P 5S9
• fax: 613-995-5086

The deadline for submitting a participant funding application is Friday, September 15, 2017. Please note that late or incomplete funding applications will not be considered.

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

Note:

The Commission will not accept any submission or make any decision related to CNL’s proposed Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at the CRL site during the public hearing to consider CNL’s application for the renewal of its nuclear research and test establishment operating licence for the Chalk River Laboratories. The Commission will schedule a separate public hearing for this matter at a later date.

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 notice of public hearing or visit the Participate in a public commission hearing and Participant Funding Program sections of the CNSC website.

If you have any questions regarding this specific funding opportunity, contact:

Adam Levine
Participant Funding Program Administrator
613-947-6382
1-800-668-5284
pfp@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca