Stages of Decommissioning

NPD will be the first Canadian nuclear power reactor to be completely decommissioned.

In the first phase of decommissioning from 1987 to 1993 all nuclear fuel was removed from NPD and systems were drained. Fuel and heavy water were removed to safe storage at Chalk River Laboratories, redundant buildings were demolished and power generating equipment was removed.

For the last 30 years, the NPD site has been in a safe shutdown state, which is the second phase of decommissioning, also known as the “storage with surveillance” phase. CNL has continued to maintain, update and repair the NPD site to meet today’s safety standards for Storage With Surveillance.

If the Environmental Assessment is approved and a license is granted to proceed with final decommissioning, the facility will be grouted to create an in-situ disposal facility at the NPD site, complete with the installation of a concrete cap and engineered barrier system. An Institutional Control phase would begin after decommissioning is complete and involves a period of active monitoring and surveillance that would last a minimum of 100 years.