Pembroke – The importance of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories to Renfrew County and its significance in research and development on the world stage was shared with members of county council last week.

CNL President and CEO Jack Craig, discussed the organization’s economic importance to the county, highlighting its 4,000 employees across Canada and over 3,500 employed at the Chalk River site.

“It’s a growing organization,” Mr. Craig remarked. “Over the last three years we’ve added almost a thousand people to the (Chalk River) site. Our mission and our work is growing as clean energy is promoted, through the world really, but here in Canada. Nuclear is a big part of that so we play a big role.”

He elaborated on the benefits for CNL’s business partners, like how they’ve engaged over 300 suppliers and spent about $50 million within a 200 km radius just this year. He also outlined CNL’s student engagement program, which has seven formal agreements with universities across Canada.

“We engage with those universities but we also hire from them. So we have a lot of student placements every year,” Mr. Craig explained.

In addition to CNL’s 125 student placements in 2024, he gave kudos to Director of Corporate Communications Phil Kompass for facilitating countless student and school engagements among all ages from kindergarteners to high school seniors.

Mr. Clark then gave a synopsis of CNL’s sustainable strategy and long-term plan for the future, named Vision 2030, which was planned back in 2021 and charts the organization’s plans for the next decade.

CNL’s top three priorities before the turn of the decade are: Restoring and protecting the environment, developing cleaner energy and improving the health of Canadians.

Over the latter half of this decade, CNL plans to execute what it’s calling, “the largest and most complex environmental remediation in Canada,” spanning the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. In order to do so, they’ve set their sights on several projects hinged around waste management. Mr. Craig told council they’re looking to remove materials from the ground as well as decommission and demolish aged site buildings.

The organization is also planning to begin in-situ disposal (decommissioning a structure by leaving it rather than removal or relocation) of its former nuclear power demonstration reactor which was retired in the late 1980s. They’ll also be looking to transition its Whiteshell Laboratories (Manitoba), Port Hope and Port Granby sites to long-term monitoring.

As for its clean energy initiatives, Mr. Craig said CNL supports the commercial affairs of other organizations in the nuclear power industry, like Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Bruce Power. They’ve also expressed support for the implementation of small modular reactor (SMR) technology, CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactors and manure treatment company, Livestock Water Recycling (LWR).

“Whether its supporting new fuels for their reactors or investigating issues, they have to be more efficient,” Mr. Craig said. “We are trying to host a small modular reactor on site, and there’s initiative on that. We also have multiple other clean energy initiatives we’re supporting.”

The last priority in CNL’s Vision 2030 relates to a breakthrough in cancer treatment and the large-scale production of what it deems, “the rarest drug.” He told the council CNL scientists are collaborating on a joint venture named Actineer with Munich-based organization ITM Radiopharma to expand its radioactive isotope program.

Actinium-225, a chemical element so scarce there’s less than a grain of sand produced annually worldwide, has proven successful for its use in targeted alpha therapy (TAT). Mr. Craig said they’ve also been selling to ITM in the initial stages of producing the element on-site to be marketed as a pharmaceutical in the German healthcare industry.

Mr. Craig went on to explain the country’s role in the future of nuclear energy. He said CNL is primarily funded by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and that in 2016, they began investing $1.3 billion over the following 10 years to revitalize CNL’s Chalk River site. The money has been put to good use, according to Mr. Craig, who said the organization will be upgrading their aged facilities dating back to the late 50s and early 60s.

“A lot of our hot cells (shielded rooms for radiological research) that were used in the past are either past their prime or on their last legs. We are in the process of building a brand-new advanced material research centre. It’s about a billion-dollar project, and it will be the largest and most advanced (nuclear) research centre (and hot cell complex) in Canada once completed.”

Mr. Craig said so far they’re about 30 per cent through construction, and the estimated date of completion will be sometime in 2027. CNL has also been developing a Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) that’s been subject to several delays due to fierce opposition from the Kebaowek First Nation in the area.

“We’re now in the process of going through a judicial review where we’ve had some organizations challenge the CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) approval of that,” he said.

He told council there are three ongoing judicial reviews and that he believes the final decision will unfold around late summer/early fall.

Mr. Craig described CNL’s Chalk River research facilities in Renfrew County as a small city, saying they operate several of their own utilities including electric and sewage to support its 3,500 staff.

“I’ve been at CNL since April of last year. As soon as I got here we had an issue with our sewage treatment plant,” he shared. “We monitor it daily and report to the regulators monthly. We had an abnormality where we were out of compliance for at least a month or so.

“We have many facilities on site that have been upgraded and we continue to upgrade those. This facility itself was updated in 2019.”

Despite the issue Mr. Craig was happy to report the system was declared in compliance with regulations as of June 6, and that CNL spends about $50 million yearly supporting the continuous issue of aging infrastructure.

“Whether its fire, water, sewage or electricity, it’s an ongoing issue and we have a large program to keep up with that.”

Mr. Craig wrapped up his presentation by discussing the upcoming AECL procurement process to continue the management of CNL past September 2025, when his contract expires. He said while there will be no change to the mission, workforce or scope of the entity, CNL will be hiring a new president/CEO.

Warden Emon recognized Mr. Craig on behalf of the community, thanking him for their continued stewardship of the Chalk River labs.

“They’re integral to the future and our past, and we’re very dependent upon our neighbours and friends who work there to keep us safe with the guidance of the management team,” he said.