Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Chalk River: National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor Events
Related Links
- AECL NRU Status Reports and Related Information
- CNSC Announcements
- Minister of Natural Resources Announcements
- AECL-CNSC Protocols
AECL NRU Status Reports and Related Information
Read AECL’s latest status reports and updates.
Chalk River Information Bulletins
- February 24, 2010: AECL reports that during the past week, two incidents involving its employees and exposure to radioactive contamination have occurred (source: AECL's Web site)
AECL's project to return the NRU to service and Related Information
- Returning the NRU to service: Information about Return-to-Service Plan and the scope of the project (source: AECL)
NRU Reactor Shutdown: Information Updates and Related Information
March 2010
- March 3, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #45 (source: AECL's Web site)
February 2010
- February 24, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #44 (source: AECL's Web site)
- February 17, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #43 (source: AECL's Web site)
- February 10, 2010:
- AECL NRU Status Report #42 (source: AECL's Web site)
- Latest Operations Update from Bill Pilkington (source: AECL's Web site) - AECL’s Senior Vice-President and Chief Nuclear Officer, Bill Pilkington, outlines the complex process involved in conducting the weld repairs on the NRU reactor vessel.
- Video of John Lee, AECL’s Extended Activities Project Team Leader (source: AECL's Web site)- AECL’s Extended Activities Project Team Leader, John Lee, highlights the activities performed by his team of experts who are using the extended outage of NRU to increase the reactor’s long-term reliability.
- February 3, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #41 (source: AECL's Web site)
January 2010
- January 27, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #40 (source: AECL's Web site)
- January 20, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #39 (source: AECL's Web site)
- January 13, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #38 (source: AECL's Web site)
- January 6, 2010: AECL NRU Status Report #37 (source: AECL's Web site)
December 2009
- December 30, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #36 (source: AECL's Web site)
- December 23, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #35 (source: AECL's Web site)
- December 16, 2009:
- AECL NRU Status Report #34 (source: AECL's Web site)
- Video of a visit to the shop floor of Liburdi Automation Inc. in Dundas, Ontario (source: AECL's Web site) - Viewers will visit the shop floor of Liburdi Automation Inc. in Dundas, Ontario to see how they have accommodated the construction of a full scale NRU reactor mock-up and the complex work involved in creating a tool that can operate in a radioactive environment
- New Strategic Update from Hugh MacDiarmid, President and CEO, AECL (source: AECL's Web site) Hugh MacDiarmid, AECL President and CEO, explains how a global search for expert resources to assist in the NRU repair, lead the AECL team to Liburdi Automation Inc. located in Dundas, Ontario
- December 9, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #33 (source: AECL's Web site)
- December 2, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #32 (source: AECL's Web site)
November 2009
- November 25, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #31 (source: AECL's Web site)
- November 18, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #30 (source: AECL's Web site)
- November 11, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #29 (source: AECL's Web site)
- November 4, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #28 (source: AECL's Web site)
October 2009
- October 28, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #27 (source: AECL's Web site)
- October 21, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #26 (source: AECL's Web site)
- October 14, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #25 (source: AECL's Web site)
- October 7, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #24 (source: AECL's Web site)
September 2009
- September 30, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #23 (source: AECL's Web site)
- September 23, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #22 (source: AECL's Web site)
- September 16, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #21 (source: AECL's Web site)
- September 9, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #20 (source: AECL's Web site)
- September 2, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #19 (source: AECL's Web site)
August 2009
- August 26, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #18 (source: AECL's Web site)
- August 25, 2009: Strategic Update from Hugh MacDiarmid, President and CEO, AECL (source: AECL's Web site)
- August 19, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #17 (source: AECL's Web site)
- August 12, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #16 (source: AECL's Web site)
- August 5, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #15 (source: AECL's Web site)
- August 4, 2009: AECL provides NRU Video Status Update (source: AECL's Web site)
July 2009
- July 29, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #14 (source: AECL's Web site)
- July 22, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #13 (source: AECL's Web site)
- July 15, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #12 (source: AECL's Web site)
- July 14, 2009: Airborne monitoring results (source: AECL's Web site)
- July 8, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #11 (source: AECL's Web site)
- July 2, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #10 (source: AECL's Web site)
June 2009
- June 24, 2009: Airborne monitoring results (source: AECL's Web site)
- June 24, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #9 (source: AECL's Web site)
- June 17, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #8 (source: AECL's Web site)
- June 10, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #7 (source: AECL's Web site)
- June 2, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #6 (source: AECL's Web site)
May 2009
- May 27, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #5 (source: AECL's Web site)
- May 22, 2009: AECL NRU Status Report #4 (source: AECL's Web site)
- May 18, 2009: Information update #3 on May 15 small heavy water leak at Chalk River Laboratories (source: AECL's Web site)
- May 17, 2009: Information update #2 on May 15 small heavy water leak at Chalk River Laboratories (source: AECL's Web site)
- May 15, 2009: The CNSC was notified of a small heavy water leak at Chalk River Laboratories. Preliminary findings - no impact on health or safety from the leak. CNSC staff on site are monitoring the situation. Further information is available on AECL's Web site.
CNSC Announcements
Read CNSC’s latest announcements and updates.
- February 25, 2010: CNSC monitoring recent events at Chalk River Laboratories
- May 19, 2009: CNSC Statement on NRU Reactor Shutdown posted to CNSC's Web site homepage
On May 14, due to a loss of electrical power, the NRU reactor at AECL’s Chalk River facility was safely shut down. Subsequently, on May 15, the CNSC was notified of AECL’s discovery of a small heavy water leak.
As good practice in safety culture, AECL decided to keep the reactor shut down to identify the source of the leak and investigate various repair options. CNSC agrees with AECL’s decision.
Preliminary findings by both organizations have determined that there is no impact on health or safety from the leak. CNSC on-site staff is monitoring the situation. The CNSC continues to maintain regulatory oversight of the CRL facilities and will respond as necessary to protect the health, safety, security of Canadians and the environment. As per established communications protocol, AECL will continue to provide the CNSC with regular updates on the event.
As per normal procedure, CNSC staff and AECL representatives will appear before a public meeting of the Commission on June 11 to provide detailed findings and a status report on the event.
- May 15, 2009: The CNSC was notified of a small heavy water leak at Chalk River Laboratories. Preliminary findings - no impact on health or safety from the leak. CNSC staff on site are monitoring the situation. Further information is available on AECL's Web site.
- February 24, 2009: Presentation by President Michael Binder to the Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Natural Resources
- February 23, 2009: Notice of February 22, 2009 Leak at NRU
- February 19, 2009: CNSC staff and AECL update Commission Members on December 2008 events at National Research Universal Reactor
- February 5, 2009: CNSC Report to Minister of Natural Resources regarding recent events at National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor
- January 28, 2009 CNSC Statement about leaks at NRU facility
Minister of Natural Resources Announcements
Read statements and announcements from the Minister of Natural Resources.
- August 12, 2009: Joint Statement from the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Health on Extended NRU Shutdown (source: NRCan Web site)
- July 8, 2009:
- Joint Statement from the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Health on Extended NRU Shutdown (source: NRCan Web site)
- Backgrounder: Government of Canada actions to address the medical isotope shortage (source: NRCan Web site)
- May 28, 2009:
- Government of Canada moves forward on restructuring Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (source: NRCan Web site)
- Government of Canada announces expert review panel for long-term isotope supply solutions (source: NRCan Web site)
- May 27, 2009: Statement by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, P.C., M.P., Minister of Health and the Honourable Lisa Raitt, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources - Shutdown of Reactor Further Extended (source: NRCan Web site)
- May 21, 2009: Statement by the Minister of Natural Resources about the temporary shutdown of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor (source: NRCan Web site)
- May 19, 2009: Statement by Minister of Natural Resources and Minister of Health on NRU Reactor Shutdown (source: NRCan Web site)
AECL-CNSC Protocols
- January 2010: Protocol for the Restart of the NRU Reactor (Revision 1)
- January 2010: Protocol for NRU Licensing Activities (Revision 1)
