Evidence of meeting #97 for Public Accounts in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aecl.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
I'm talking about the above-ground landfill you have for the one million cubic metres based at Chalk River.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Yes, right.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
The International Atomic Energy Agency guidance, as you know, states that near-surface disposal is not suitable for waste with long-lived radionuclides, but I see you're going ahead with this here.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
In the facility we have, the near-surface disposal is fully compliant with the IAEA guidance. It has—
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Doesn't the IAEA guidance state that the best way is to isolate radioactive waste from the biosphere?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
That's what these facilities do. They isolate it from the environment.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
That's not my understanding. There is a group of concerned citizens from Renfrew County and the area. You must know about these people. Have you interacted with them?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Yes.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Their group also includes some of the scientists who worked at Chalk River.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Yes.
Liberal
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
First of all, AECL's role here is not to determine whether this is safe or unsafe. Our organization is not set up such that we rely on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
You talked about expertise with AECL, but now you have contracted out most of the operations to five private sector companies. Is that correct?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Yes.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
What does AECL do? The Auditor General's report says you have not implemented a formal systematic process for monitoring and reporting on risk.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Those risks are different. Those are business risks. We rely on the—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
We monitor and routinely do oversight of the operational risks. We also rely on the monitoring of the regulator to verify that CNL is complying with all regulatory requirements.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
Did you know that the Ottawa Valley is full of fault lines and is prone to earthquakes?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
Yes.
Liberal
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
I'm certainly not the seismic expert. Again, that's a question—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
You would have to talk to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. They have the expertise. They're the ones that provide the licence or permission, if you will. They are the ones that would determine whether the design is adequate or inadequate. We certainly have expertise within our organization to understand whether this is a reasonable approach, but we rely on the CNSC.
Liberal
Chandra Arya Liberal Nepean, ON
I'm sorry to cut you off, but I have limited time.
For the proposed nuclear reactor entombment project, IAEA once again does not recommend entombment except in emergencies. However, that is what you are proposing to do.