Following a recent review of waste containers across the industry, neutron radiation was measured near retube waste containers securing materials from Bruce Power refurbishment activities. These containers are stored at Ontario Power Generation’s Western Waste Management facility and the neutron radiation was detected as a result of industry experience where similar conditions at another Canadian facility were observed during an inspection.
While there is no risk to the public, employees or the environment from this finding, safety is the nuclear sector’s top priority, and the industry is collectively analyzing these findings to better understand the cause and will be providing the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) with additional information following a review of the findings.
Bruce Power has taken appropriate actions to protect the safety of employees and the effectiveness of these actions have been verified through inspection by the CNSC.
Retube waste containers are large, sealed vessels that are shielded with steel used to move and store potentially radioactive components after they’ve been removed during Major Component Replacement (MCR) outages. They have only been transported within the Bruce site.
Bruce Power will continue to provide updates to employees, the public and the CNSC.
