Regulations Amending the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Regulations: SOR/2021-133

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 155, Number 13

Registration
SOR/2021-133 June 10, 2021

NUCLEAR LIABILITY AND COMPENSATION ACT

P.C. 2021-530 June 10, 2021

Whereas, pursuant to subsection 7(1) of the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act footnote a, the Minister of Natural Resources has consulted the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission;

Therefore, His Excellency the Administrator of the Government of Canada in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Natural Resources, pursuant to subsection 7(1) of the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act footnote a, makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Regulations.

Regulations Amending the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Regulations

Amendment

1 Item 10 of the schedule to the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Regulations footnote 1 is repealed.

Coming into Force

2 (1) Subject to subsection (2), these Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

(2) If, on the day on which these Regulations are registered, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has not issued a licence to the Saskatchewan Research Council to abandon the SLOWPOKE 2 reactor, section 1 comes in to force on the day on which that licence is issued.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The Nuclear Liability and Compensation Regulations (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”) were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on May 6, 2016, and entered into force on January 1, 2017. The Regulations designate nuclear installations, operators, classes of nuclear installations, and liability limits for those classes, pursuant to subsection 7(1) and paragraphs 24(2)(b), and 78(b) of the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).

The Act provides a strong legislative framework to address civil liability and compensation resulting from nuclear damages arising from a nuclear incident. It provides a special civil liability regime for the operators of certain categories of nuclear facilities (e.g. nuclear power generating plants, research reactors, nuclear material processing plants) and is intended to deal with risks of an exceptional nature for which common law rules and practice are not suitable. As such, the regime applies only to those categories of nuclear facilities that contain or utilize “nuclear material” and these are designated as “nuclear installations” under the Act. Nuclear material, for the purposes of the Act, is material that is capable of a self-sustaining chain process of nuclear fission (criticality), or material that is produced as a result of that criticality. As part of this liability regime, the operators of nuclear facilities enter into Indemnification Agreements (IA) with the Government of Canada. Through the IA, the Government of Canada provides coverage to the operators for certain heads of damage (e.g. pain, sufferings, loss of income) where private sector insurance is unavailable, namely damages for routine emissions and for bodily injury 10 to 30 years after an incident.

The Saskatchewan Research Council: SLOWPOKE 2 Research Reactor site is on the list of nuclear installations on the schedule to the Regulations and is currently subject to the absolute, exclusive and limited liability requirement of the Act. This site is at the end of its operations and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) currently holds an amended Non-Power Reactor Operating Licence. On December 9, 2019, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) approved an amendment to the SRC's Non-Power Reactor Operating Licence authorizing the SRC to decommission its SLOWPOKE 2 facility to achieve an end state of unrestricted use. The facility has since been de-fuelled and no nuclear materials remain on the site. The CNSC continues to monitor environmental risks on the site under the current licence until a Licence to Abandon is issued. The CNSC will only issue a Licence to Abandon when it is confident that human health and the environment are protected going forward.

The SRC site will no longer require to be listed as a nuclear installation pursuant to the Act, effective on the date that it is granted a “Licence to Abandon” from the CNSC. Keeping the facility on the list of nuclear installations would unnecessarily maintain liability obligations on the SRC for the site.

Objective

The objective of the amendment is to

Description and rationale

The amendment will remove item 10, Saskatchewan Research Council: SLOWPOKE 2 Reactor, as a nuclear installation from the schedule to the Regulations. This change will be effective on the date the SRC is issued a Licence to Abandon by the CNSC.

Once the SRC: SLOWPOKE 2 Reactor site is issued a Licence to Abandon form the CNSC, it will no longer qualify as a nuclear installation for the purposes of the Act. As a result, amendments to the Regulations are necessary to revoke its designation. Upon the revocation of the designation, the former site would no longer be subject to the absolute, exclusive and limited liability of the Act, but would be subject to the liability regime of the common law to which most other industries are governed by. Furthermore, once the site is removed from the schedule to the Regulations, the SRC would no longer be required to carry financial security to cover its liability as required by the Act, nor would the Indemnification Agreement (IA) that the SRC entered into with Natural Resources Canada be necessary. The IA cannot be terminated until such time that the SRC: SLOWPOKE 2 Reactor site is removed from the schedule to the Regulations, and those liabilities will remain with the Government of Canada until that time.

The amendment was not prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I, given it is low risk and largely administrative. A consultation process for the issuance of the Licence to Abandon is undertaken by the CNSC in their role as the authority responsible for issuing such licences. Further consultation by Natural Resources Canada on this amendment would be inappropriate and unnecessary as this amendment aligns the liability and compensation regime with the licensing decision by the CNSC.

One-for-one rule and small business lens

The one-for-one rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs or burden to businesses.

Analysis under the small business lens determined that the amendment will not impact small businesses in Canada.

Contact

Jim Delaney
Director
Uranium and Radioactive Waste Division
Low-Carbon Energy Sector
Natural Resources Canada
Telephone: 343‑543‑7832