Briefing Book - Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (2022)

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Briefing Package Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

CNL.ca www.cnl.ca

Chalk River Laboratories

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Joseph A. McBrearty President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories

Joseph (Joe) McBrearty is an accomplished senior executive with 40 years of experience in the nuclear industry. Holding executive-level roles at complex nuclear installations in both the United States and Canada, Mr. McBrearty’s expertise includes nuclear reactor and high hazard nuclear facility operations, maintenance, training and oversight.

As President and CEO at CNL, Mr. McBrearty oversees the operations of Canada’s national nuclear laboratory complex, and is enacting transformational change to improve the company’s research program, safety performance, security posture, capital program, and waste management activities. Included in Joe’s mandate is the operation of Canada’s national nuclear research program, the delivery of major environmental remediation projects and the modernization of CNL’s Chalk River campus.

Before assuming the role of President and CEO, Mr. McBrearty oversaw internal operations at CNL as its Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Prior to joining CNL, Joe served as Deputy Director for Field Operations with the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where he led operations for 10 U.S. national laboratories and over 25,000 contract and federal staff.

Mr. McBrearty also served in the U.S. Navy with extended tours of duty on board four nuclear submarines, including command of USS DALLAS (SSN-700). Ashore, he served in various high-profile positions, including the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, command of the TRIDENT Refit Facility (TRF), King’s Bay and the U.S. Navy’s Officer Training Command.

Mr. McBrearty holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Maryland and a Master’s Degree from the U.S. Naval War College.

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Phil Boyle

Todd Cook

Vice-President,

Vice-President,

Central Technical Authority

Human Resources

Chief Nuclear Officer

Dr. Jeff Griffin

Doug McIntyre

Vice-President,

Vice-President,

Science & Technology

Legal & Insurance

Ram Mullur

Lou Riccoboni

Vice-President,

Vice-President,

Isotopes Business

Corporate Affairs & Business Development

Brian Savage

Monica Steedman

Vice-President,

Vice-President,

Capital

Business Management

Zack Smith

Jeff Willman

Vice-President,

Vice-President,

Stewardship & Renewal

Health, Safety, Security, Environment

Peter Stalker Chief Operating Officer

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Canada’s national nuclear laboratory For three quarters of a century, Canada’s national nuclear laboratory has been home to new and exciting breakthroughs in nuclear science and technology.

This work has had profound impacts on people all over the world – from the way we power our homes and business, to the technologies we use to fight cancer. As we build on this history of innovation, CNL has developed a plan that charts our path forward for the next decade.

Known as Vision 2030, this plan encompasses all-new programs and projects that focus on our competitive advantages, seek to grow our commercial business, and position the company as a sustainable, thriving business into the future.

Most importantly, Vision 2030 builds on what we already do best – cleaning up the environment, developing clean energy technologies for today and tomorrow, and improving the health of Canadians.

A Unique Management Model Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a federal crown corporation, delivers its mandate through a Government-owned, Contractoroperated (GoCo) model, whereby a privatesector organization, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), is responsible for managing and operating AECL’s sites.

Under the GoCo model, AECL owns the sites, facilities, assets, existing intellectual property and responsibility for environmental remediation and radioactive waste management. CNL is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the sites.

CNL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canadian National Energy Alliance (CNEA), a consortium that brings together the proven leadership and management approaches from Jacobs, Fluor, and SNC-Lavalin Inc- the world’s leading engineering and technology companies.

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Clean Energy for Today and Tomorrow In clean energy, CNL is working to bring the next-generation of clean energy technologies to Canada – Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

But our work in clean energy extends into other areas as well, including the production of hydrogen, the development of advanced nuclear fuels, the integration of clean energy technologies, and research to enable the safe and reliable operation of today’s nuclear generating stations.

Restore and Protect the Environment CNL is managing the largest and most complex environmental clean-up missions in Canada, including the Chalk River and Whiteshell Laboratories sites, and the remediation of historic waste as part of the Port Hope Area Initiative. We are also leading a number of major environmental remediation projects, including the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) project, the Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD) Closure Project, and the WR-1 Closure Project.

Contribute to the Health of Canadians With over one billion medical treatments conducted using isotopes produced at CNL, we have been a world leader in the production of radiopharmaceuticals for decades. We are now leveraging this expertise to become an international hub in the research, development and supply of alpha-emitting isotopes, including Actinium-225, a rare isotope that can be used to create a revolutionary new cancer treatment .

Vision 2030 builds on what we already do best – cleaning up the environment, developing clean energy technologies for today and tomorrow, and improving the health of Canadians.

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Science & Technology for a Sustainable World To build a clean energy future here in Canada, we must make scientific progress today. Science to develop energy that is free of greenhouse gases; science to protect our environment from pollutants and other harmful emissions; and, science to make clean energy technologies work better together, from nuclear energy and hydrogen to solar and wind power.

That work is underway at CNL, where we are working to help deploy the next-generation of nuclear reactors in Canada and around the world – small modular reactors. We are leveraging our expertise to make advances in other forms of clean energy as well, including the production, storage and safety of hydrogen, the development of advanced nuclear fuels, and the integration of clean energy technologies.

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Advanced Nuclear Fuel Development To support long-term reliability of existing reactors and the development of advanced reactors, advanced nuclear fuel concepts are being developed worldwide. These advanced fuels offer improved performance, failure tolerance, safety, proliferation resistance, and accident tolerance; and are recycled or recyclable. Many nextgeneration nuclear fuels demand new fabrication methods because they cannot be manufactured via the conventional processes used for uranium dioxide-based nuclear fuels.

As new manufacturing technologies emerge for fabricating advanced nuclear fuel, CNL is well positioned to become an international leader in the development and testing of new fuel technologies.

Hydrogen Research In 2020, the Government of Canada released it Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, an ambitious plan to cement hydrogen as a key part of Canada’s path to net-zero carbon emissions. Hydrogen offers lowcarbon options for the energy and transportation sectors, supporting Canada’s international commitments for carbon reduction.

Through a series of projects with industry partners, CNL is working to demonstrate its large-scale hydrogen production process and support systems. This process will produce the required hydrogen to fuel bulk transport vehicles, such as freight trains and transport trucks.

Life Extension & Reactor Sustainability Building on decades of experience related to the CANDU® reactor technology, CNL continues to support the life extension and long-term reliability of the existing fleet of CANDU reactors domestically and internationally, and is now expanding its services to include support for other reactor designs.

Through this work, CNL helps make nuclear power plants around the world more efficient and reliable, support reactor life extension and long term operation, and enable plant modernization through innovative technologies and inspection services.

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Photo © USNC Power

Small Modular Reactors Much more than simply electricity generation, SMRs can be part of diverse energy system which includes district heating, co-generation, energy storage, desalination, and hydrogen production among others.

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Bringing SMR technology forward Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ (CNL) vision for the development of small modular reactors (SMR) is two fold; first, we will serve the world as a global hub for SMR research and technology; the second part of our vision for the program is to have a demonstration unit built on a CNL site by the end of the decade.

While deployment of small modular reactors is still several years away, CNL is building its expertise and capabilities to support the development of these technologies, and has launched initiatives that would further explore the full range of applications. Commercial interest in our capabilities continues to grow; our federal S&T program in SMR-related research is growing; and our capabilities are evolving to meet the expected needs of our SMR customers.

In 2018, CNL moved forward with announcing a staged invitation process for those vendors interested in siting their demonstration unit at a CNL-managed site. At present, there are several project proponents engaged in various stages, with further details on each project available on www.cnl.ca/SMR. The furthest advanced in this process, Global First Power (GFP), is proposing to construct and operate a 5 MWe small modular reactor at the Chalk River Laboratories site in Ontario. The licencing process with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, including an Environmental Assessment is underway, with more information available at www.globalfirstpower.com.

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SMALL

WHAT IS A

SMALL MODULAR

MODULAR

REACTOR

REACTORS

Small In both size and energy, an SMR ranges from several hundred kW to 300 MW electrical.

Modular in both construction and operation.

Can be factory-produced and transported to a site. Operators can attach multiple modules together, depending on changing energy needs.

New fuels, materials and designs aim to create safer, more cost-effective and efficient reactor designs than in the past.

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Contributing to the health of Canadians For 75 years, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has been at the forefront of innovation in nuclear medicine, radiopharmaceuticals, and low dose radiation research. Through our work in health sciences we’ve changed the lives of millions of people around the world.

And now, we are about to do it again.

CNL maintains diverse capabilities in areas of health and dosimetry, including Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) animal studies, isotope production and processing, targeted radionuclide therapies, ISO-accredited Analytical Chemistry services and waste management solutions. CNL is committed to improving the health of the world’s population through its work in the Health sector.

CNL’s Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) is a leader in the industry; a full service nuclear laboratory with the capability to perform cutting-edge pharmaceutical development, along with a wide range of radiochemical analyses. CNL’s health sciences facilities are staffed by an expert multi-discipline team of researchers and technologists.

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Targeted alpha therapy (TAT) and Actinium-225 A new weapon in the fight against cancer There are only a few alpha-emitting radioactive isotopes that have suitable properties to be used in the human body for medical applications.

CNL works with the isotope Actinium 225 which has a half-life of 10 days. This is long enough for researchers to incorporate it into a radiopharmaceutical, and use it in medical treatments. It will circulate in the body, collect in target areas and emit high energy alpha particles to the cells immediately surrounding it. The half-life is short enough that it decays to a stable product without adverse dose consequences.

The world’s rarest drug

Research Capabilities

One of the challenges in conducting clinical trials or even basic research in targeted alpha therapy is the limited availability of the isotopes, in particular, actinium-225. There are only a few locations globally with thorium generators to produce this material in research-scale quantities.

CNL’s Chalk River Laboratories is one of them.

In addition to radioisotope production, CNL also maintains the capabilities to conduct biological research to explore the possibilities of TAT. Our first TAT pre-clinical (in vivo) research study was initiated in the Biological Research Facility (BRF) to examine the targeting efficiency and antitumour efficacy of specific actinium-225 labelled targeting vectors on human breast cancer cells.

Through our generators, we are able to make a significant amount of pure actinium-225 which we use in our research and share with other collaborators across Canada and around the world.

Targetting cancer cells In targeted alpha therapies, the Actinium 225 isotope is attached to a targeting molecule, like an antibody, which then locks on a specific antigen on the cancer cell. When the isotope decays, it emits high-energy alpha particles that kill the cancer cell by causing irreparable damage, like shattering its DNA. The healthy cells nearby are unharmed by this process.

CNL’s Biological Research Facility (BRF) is a unique facility which holds the necessary capabilities to conduct TAT-related research.

The BRF is currently pursuing Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) recognition, has ISO 9001 certification, Good Animal Practice (GAP) certification from the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) and is staffed by a team with significant experience in radiobiology and radiochemistry.

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The Hydrogen and Tritium Technologies Directorate (HTTD) at CNL was created to respond to emerging hydrogen economy strategies, new fusion reactor opportunities and tritium removal applications. The Directorate has an inherent commercial focus given that many of the exciting opportunities in this field require advanced technology deployment to solve industry problems and environmental concerns in Canada and internationally.

CNL delivers a broad portfolio of work including detritiation activities, and hydrogen safety. The Directorate is also involved in a robust mixture of new and advanced technologies to enable the hydrogen economy in the areas of hydrogen production, storage, transportation, safety and techno-economic assessments. With a focus to tomorrow’s technology today, the team is actively working to advance tritium technologies such as beta batteries and tritium-interaction with materials in fusion reactors, where tritium is a key component of the fuel cycle.

Photo: Enabling CNL’s work in tritium and hydrogen are two brand new world class research facilities. The Hydrogen Isotopes Complex, a $55 million investment opened its doors in 2015. A dedicated Tritium Research and Handling Facility followed in 2017. Theses facilities provide the necessary capabilities to serve the needs of the federal government and commercial customers in the private sector.

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Hydrogen & Tritium Expertise

Tritium Facility

Hydrogen Facility

Tritium Facility CNL’s Tritium Facility is located at Chalk River Laboratories. The Tritium Facility was originally built to support the tritium technology needs of CANDU® reactors and to support the Canadian fusion program. Since its inception it has been involved in many tritium research and development activities including:

The Hydrogen Complex was built to meet the clean energy needs of the world and develop synergistic approaches with nuclear, other clean energy sources and hydrogen and hydrogen derived clean fuels.

Research in this complex, spans over three key pillars: production, storage and safety. Noteworthy are: •

The development of Liquid Phase Catalytic Exchange and Combined Electrolysis and Catalytic Exchange processes for heavy water production and tritium removal

The development of novel H2 production via combination of advanced electrolysis and thermochemical processes using electricity (nuclear, renewable) and waste heat (HCuTEC™, )

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The advancement of materials for syn-gas production (H2–CO) from steam and CO2 using High Temperature Steam Electrolysis (HTSE) and carbon capture, sequestration and utilizaiton

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The development of tritium-breeder materials and testing for fusion reactor applications

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The design and testing of fusion-fuel cleanup systems for fusion reactor applications

The modeling of H2 production and plant integration with energy generation host – mass, and energy balances - using commercial software

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The investigation of tritium retention characteristics of construction materials

The development of advanced low-cost Mg-based alloys for H2 storage and advanced liquid organic carriers

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Tritium storage getters

The deployment of aassive catalytic H2 recombiner catalysts as safety conversion devices in stationary areas

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The development of tritium betavolatics and thermogenerators

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The reviews of safety regulations, codes and standards to develop a safety risk register to assess options and guide demonstration

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The development of new tools for techno-economic feasibility assessments for rail, heavy transport and marine vessel to achieve zero-emissions

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Wolsong Tritium Removal Facility Efficient scale-up As world leading experts in tritium, CNL has a long successful history of designing, building, and commissioning detritiation facilities for industrial scale upgrading of heavy water for nuclear power production. For example, in 2007, CNL completed the construction of the Wolsong Tritium Removal Facility in South Korea. This facility detritiates up to 100kg of tritiated heavy water every hour and allows the customer to continuously re-use the valuable heavy water required to operate a CANDU power plant. This first of a kind build dramatically improves the economics of power production for CNL’s customer.

Heavy Water Processing Facility Separate tritium from heavy water for non-nuclear market sale CNL will incorporate award-winning technologies into an operational facility to convert a nuclear liability into an asset for non-nuclear applications. The Heavy Water Processing Facility is a key initiative to accelerate the elimination of nuclear liabilities on behalf of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. The Project will design and build a Heavy Water Detritiation Facility that will separate the tritium from heavy water, which can then be reused as virgin water outside the nuclear sector. This represents a significant opportunity for commercial revenue.

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Safety & Security

Canada, as a nuclear nation, has responsibilities for public safety, security and emergency response. CNL supports Canada in meeting its obligations by sustaining world-class S&T capabilities in nuclear safety and security, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism, and in nuclear emergency preparedness and response.

Cyber security of industrial control systems is a growing concern in all industries, and particularly in the nuclear industry; a multibillion-dollar worldwide market. The cyber security of industrial control systems used in nuclear power plants, as well as non-nuclear process plants, and other critical energy infrastructure is in its infancy.

CNL works with government departments and agencies and with international bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to develop technologies and methodologies that address emerging requirements and opportunities for improvement in national and international nuclear security.

CNL is leveraging its expertise in nondisruptive Industrial Control Systems solutions by protecting mission-critical infrastructures.

This work utilizes a state-of-the-art research facility which can model the typical architectures of business and process control networks in order to monitor networks for potential problems and improve security.

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Safer Borders & Critical Infrastructure Listed below are just a few examples which highlight the opportunities to leverage CNL’s decades of experience in radiation, chemistry, physics, modelling, cyber security and instrumentation to strengthen the Canadian security program.

National Centre for Innovation in Cyber Security

Code Name: ALARM CNL has developed and is testing a prototype special nuclear materials (SNM) detector. Dubbed ALARM (A Liquid Argon Radiation Monitor), this detector is based on a liquid-argon system initially developed to help detect the presence of dark matter.

Special nuclear material, or SNM includes elements such as uranium-233, uranium-235 and plutonium-239. While these elements may have peaceful applications, it is critical that they are closely monitored to ensure they aren’t diverted for more nefarious purposes.

Liquid argon is able to simultaneously detect both gamma and neutron radiation, and discriminate between the two with high precision through pulse-shape discrimination. In addition, LAr detectors can be easily scaled to arbitrary sizes (kg to tonnes) and form factors which can be customized to specific applications since LAr is a liquid and argon is very low cost.

Our work here at CNL is intended to demonstrate significant improvements in detecting neutron and gamma radiation as compared to existing technology.

Nuclear Forensics Safeguarding and securing nuclear material is a worldwide concern, as is the ability to attribute any diverted material to a source.

CNL has long been developing essential tools to enable national and international nuclear safety and security. To enable this CNL possesses: •

Safe, secure, controlled access to locations with sensitive categories of special nuclear material that allow realistic testing and validation of safeguards and security-related detection and characterization

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State-of-the-art capabilities for irradiation; chemical and mechanical manipulation; and examination and decontamination of nuclear, radioactive and radiologically contaminated materials and biological samples that are required for the national nuclear forensics and response capability

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has been committed to commissioning its research capabilities in cyber security and has celebrated a number of recent milestones: •

Launched a new multi-million dollar cyber security research facility at Knowledge Park in Fredericton, New Brunswick

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Developed internationally utilized, cutting edge cyber security technologies, including the current development and commercialization of a safety-qualified plant display system for mission critical applications

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Established partnerships with University of New Brunswick, including the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity and the Faculties of Engineering and Computer Science

CNL has developed a simulator of a reactor control system as a test bed for developing intrusion-resistant systems, intrusion detection and remediation. This secure, simulated cyberphysical environment offers a unique environment for safely and realistically simulating cyberattacks on nuclear industrial control systems, for testing security control measures including supply chain qualification of programmable electronic systems in nuclear power plants and for training plant personnel in cyber security.

CNL is undertaking strategic technology development to address detection of chemical threats including opioids and improvised explosives.

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A National Footprint

CNL manages nuclear research and clean-up sites across Canada, including the Chalk River Laboratories. The site is situated on the banks of the Ottawa River, and is home to approximately 2,700 employees, including scientists, engineers, physicists, and other technical experts, and some of Canada’s most advanced nuclear research facilities, technologies and equipment.

CNL also manages the cleanup and decommissioning of the Whiteshell Laboratories site near Winnipeg, Manitoba, a former research campus that operated from 1961 to 1997, as well as the execution of the Port Hope Area Initiative, where the company is fulfilling the Government of Canada’s commitment to safely clean-up historic lowlevel radioactive waste in two Ontario municipalities.

In addition to these sites, CNL maintains a small complement of staff in a number of locations across the country, managing commercial projects, leading academic work, implementing environmental improvements, and decommissioning redundant and prototype facilities.

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Restoring and protecting Canada’s environment For more than 75 years, Canada has been a world leader in nuclear science and technology.

And during that time, we’ve made scientific breakthroughs that have changed our country in profound ways.

CNL has developed some of the world’s most advanced waste management technologies and practices. And now our talented engineers, researchers and operators are putting them to good use – tackling some of the world’s most challenging environmental problems.

Like in Port Hope, Ontario, where CNL has already removed and safely stored over one million tonnes of contaminated soils from around the community. Or the WR-1 reactor in Pinawa, Manitoba, where CNL is working to safely dispose of one of Canada’s oldest research reactors.

And, we’re revitalizing the celebrated Chalk River Laboratories site in the Ottawa Valley. With roughly 100 buildings taken down, 150 tons of asbestos, 850 tons of low-level radioactive waste and 15,000 tons of decommissioning debris has been safely removed from site. CNL is cleaning up the past to make way for a bright future.

Near Surface Disposal Facility While the legacy of our research has improved the lives of millions of Canadians and people around the world, it has also created nuclear liabilities. This waste has been managed safely with the evolving best practices and regulations, but times have changed, and as a responsible steward of the environment, CNL is seeking to retrieve and dispose of these wastes using modern technology.

To do so, CNL has proposed building and operating the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF), an engineered containment mound at the Chalk River Laboratories campus that is designed to isolate 1,000,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste from the environment.

Following its closure, the NSDF will resemble a grassy outcrop built into an existing hillside, and will occupy a 16-hectare footprint on the 4,000 hectare Chalk River Laboratories site.

Protecting Canada’s Great Lakes In 2020, the Port Granby project team completed the safe excavation and transfer of 1.3 million tonnes of historic lowlevel radioactive waste away from the Lake Ontario shoreline to an engineered containment mound. This work fulfills the Government of Canada’s commitment to clean up the lakefront site so generations to come will enjoy the benefits of a cleaner environment.

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Revitalization of the Chalk River Laboratories As the birthplace of nuclear research here in Canada in 1944, the Chalk River Laboratories has been home to some of the world’s most exciting advances in nuclear science and technology. To build on this legacy, the Government of Canada through AECL has committed to a 10-year investment of $1.2 billion dedicated solely to the revitalization of the facilities and infrastructure at the Chalk River Laboratories, presenting CNL with an opportunity to transform the site into a modern, sustainable campus.

This process began in 2016, and includes the renewal of essential site infrastructure, the decommissioning of outdated buildings and a significant investment in new, world-class science facilities. Environmental stewardship and sustainability is integrated into this work, reflected in the design of the new facilities being constructed, as well as the infrastructure improvements.

Modern and Sustainable The Chalk River Laboratories is being modernized with sustainability in mind. In the design of its new buildings, CNL is pursuing strategies that include sustainable site development, water and energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. In many of these buildings, CNL is also using a variety of renewable materials, such as cross-laminated timber products made in Canada.

A Campus of the Future As part of the revitalization of the Chalk River Laboratories, CNL is exploring the adoption of smart technologies and other improvements that would transform the site into a ‘campus of the future.’ This smart campus would nurture a more flexible work environment, encourage innovation and collaboration, reduce impacts on the environment, and improve campus operations, ensuring:

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Employees are connected to their work and colleagues, everywhere and anywhere. This reduces commuter carbon emissions

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Operations are efficient, adaptive and automated

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Technologies drive improvements in environmental and safety performance

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Systems are intelligent, well integrated and securely managed

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The Harriet Brooks Building enables cutting-edge research activities as CNL’s new laboratory for materials science.

The Science Collaboration Centre will house CNL’s business infrastructure and provide modern office space for approximately 400 employees.

The Advanced Nuclear Materials Research Centre will serve as a modern laboratory research complex and the backbone of CNL’s research and development infrastructure.

The Support Facility has consolidated maintenance resources, work management and equipment into a single, centralized location at the campus.

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