Robert Fisher
Staff Reporter
PEMBROKE – Jack Craig, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) updated council for the County of Renfrew on operations at the site at the Jan. 15 meeting.
Craig outlined three broad strategic topics for the organization which flowed from a strategic planning exercise in 2020. First was environmental cleanup of the site and the 60-plus years of debris and waste.
“Through that process, we are removing material from the ground (and) we are decommissioning and demolishing old buildings,” said Craig. The lab is seeking approval for a near-surface disposal facility which will provide long-term storage of low-level radiological waste. Craig said the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has provided approval to construct the facility. Outside groups have launched a legal challenge to the project which is working through the judicial system. He continued to say that as part of its commitment to the environment, “we also have a large program on clean energy,” supporting commercial nuclear energy generation in Canada, which is the second plank of the plan. Craig said the organization is investigating hosting a small modular reactor (SMR) onsite at the facility. The third component of the plan is producing medical radioactive isotopes for cancer treatment. CNL produces isotopes onsite which are then shipped to a pharmaceutical company in Germany which markets the product to the medical industry.
The laboratory has committed funding for the next 11 years which, “gives a stability to the site and allows us to do hiring for the long term.”
Craig told council a new third-party contractor will be selected to operate CNL and the announcement should be made in early April. “The mission isn’t changing. The funding isn’t changing. The management team will change,” he said, including a new president.
Maggie Braun, founder of Kicking International Council out of Local Environmental Initiatives (KICLEI) spoke to council to ask the members to reconsider the county environmental action plan developed in consultation with Ainsworth.
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