REGULATORY FRAMWORK FOR SAFEGUARDS IN CANADA

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is the sole authority in Canada to regulate the development, production and use of nuclear energy and has been designated as Canada’s Safeguards Regulatory Authority. The CNSC is responsible for the implementation of safeguards in Canada through its regulatory framework in order to meet Canada’s safeguards obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In this paper, we discuss the role of the CNSC and the details of its regulatory framework for safeguards at facilities in Canada. The CNSC ensures the effective and efficient implementation of safeguards at Canadian nuclear facilities though its regulatory framework and it contributes to development of safeguards policy in Canada.  Safeguards in Canada are applied across the full range of fuel cycle activities that includes mining and milling, uranium refining, conversion, and fuel fabrication, nuclear power generation and waste storage. In addition, safeguards are also applied to research reactors, nuclear research and development as well as to locations outside facilities (LOFs) in Canada.  The regulatory framework for safeguards has both international and domestic components. The international component includes the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the treaty-level safeguards agreements that Canada has concluded with the IAEA. In the domestic component, the CNSC has integrated safeguards into the CNSC’s licensing and compliance framework where Canada’s safeguards obligations to the IAEA flow through to the operators. The CNSC regulatory framework for safeguards defines the relationship between the CNSC and operators in Canada while safeguards agreements define the relationship between the CNSC (on behalf of Canada) and the IAEA. To demonstrate this regulatory framework for safeguards in practice,  the paper will describes some current safeguards challenges at  Canadian facilities. The Revised State Level Approach has resulted in increased IAEA activities at Canadian facilities. This has led to the pursuit of an equipment-based approach at some major facilities. Moreover, New fuel, advanced reactor and novel fuel-cycle facility designs are being proposed by vendors. Canada has a decades long history of successfully considering safeguards aspects in new facilities and designs. Safeguards-by-Design (SBD) is the concept of the integration of safeguards considerations at the early design phase of a nuclear facility and throughout its life cycle. The SBD approach is currently being pursued as Canada is preparing to deploy the first SMR reactor in the G7, to be constructed at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Site. This new build will not only introduce new reactor technology to Canada, but a new safeguards approach. Both will further demonstrate the CNSC’s regulatory framework.