Radiological Environmental Monitorign Programs at Canadian Nuclear Facilities - A Practical Model for Follow-Up Activities Under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

Abstract

Under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (the Act), a federal authority, if it considers it appropriate, is to design a follow-up program for a project undergoing a federal environmental assessment and arrange for implementation of that program. Under the Act a follow-up program means a set of activities for verifying the accuracy of the environmental assessment (EA) of a project and for determining the effectiveness of any measures taken to mitigate any adverse environmental effects resulting from the project. The Act currently does not include regulations, guidelines, standards or procedures regarding the design, content and implementation requirements for follow-up programs (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency [the Agency] 1999). Uncertainties also exist regarding the roles and responsibilities in designing, implementing, enforcing and auditing such activities. The Agency is presently specifying appropriate activities to address these issues. This paper considers the existing radiological environmental monitoring programs at nuclear facilities. Such programs consist of two types of monitoring - radioactivity releases from the facility via liquid and gaseous waste streams, and radioactivity in the environment at large, beyond the facility's immediate location. Such programs have been developed by AECL, Canadian nuclear utilities and uranium mining companies. Our analysis shows that these programs can provide a good model for follow-up programs under the Act.