Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
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The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC; french: Commission Canadienne de sûreté nucléaire) is the federal regulator of
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
and materials in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.


Mandate and history

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was established under the 1997 ''
Nuclear Safety and Control Act The ''Nuclear Safety and Control Act'' (the ''Act'') of Canada replaced the ''Atomic Energy Control Act'' of 1946 with new, more effective and explicit legislation to regulate the activities of the Nuclear industry in Canada, Canadian nuclear indu ...
'' with a mandate to regulate nuclear energy, nuclear substances, and relevant equipment in order to reduce and manage the safety, environmental, and national security risks, and to keep Canada in compliance with international legal obligations, such as the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...
. It replaced the former Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB, French: ''Régie de energie atomique''), which was founded in 1946. The CNSC is an agency of the
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
which reports to the
Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
through the
Minister of Natural Resources The minister of natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio ...
. In 2008, Linda Keen the president and the chief executive officer of the CNSC was fired following a shortage of medical
radioisotopes A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...
in Canada as a results of the extended routine shutdown of the NRU nuclear reactor at the
Chalk River Laboratories Chalk River Laboratories (french: Laboratoires de Chalk River; also known as CRL, Chalk River Labs and formerly Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, CRNL) is a Canadian nuclear research facility in Deep River, about north-west of Ottawa. CRL is a ...
. Rumina Velshi joined the organisation in 2011 and in 2018 she became the President and CEO. In 2020 she also took on an international role for the
IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
becoming their Chairperson for their Commission on Safety Standards. She was appointed to serve for four years.


Programs

The Participant Funding Program allows the public, Indigenous groups, and other stakeholders to request funding from the CNSC to participate in its regulatory processes. In 2014, the CNSC launched the Independent Environmental Monitoring Program. The program verifies that the public and environment around licensed nuclear facilities are safe, helping to confirm their regulatory position and decision-making.


See also

*
Anti-nuclear movement in Canada Canada has an active anti-nuclear movement, which includes major campaigning organisations like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. Over 300 public interest groups across Canada have endorsed the mandate of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout (CNP). Som ...
*
Canadian National Calibration Reference Centre The National Calibration Reference Centre for Bioassay and ''In Vivo'' Monitoring (NCRC) is administered by the Radiation Protection Bureau of the Canadian Federal Department of Health. It was created in 1982 through a Memorandum of Understanding ( ...
*
International Nuclear Regulators' Association The International Nuclear Regulators' Association (INRA) was established in January 1997 and is an association of the most senior officials of the nuclear regulatory authorities of the following countries: https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/ip/intl-organ ...
*
Nuclear industry in Canada Nuclear industry in Canada is an active business and research sector, producing about 15% of its electricity in nuclear power plants of domestic design. Canada is the world's largest exporter of uranium, and has the world's second largest proven ...


References


External links


Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
official website {{authority control 2000 establishments in Canada Federal departments and agencies of Canada Government agencies established in 2000 Nuclear regulatory organizations Natural Resources Canada