Adrienne Ethier

Adrienne has worked at the CNSC since early 2020. As an environmental risk assessment specialist, she is responsible for assessing potential environmental exposure risks to members of the public and the environment near nuclear facilities and mines.

Adrienne and her team are responsible for carefully reviewing all nuclear projects to determine their potential interactions with, and effects on, the environment and the people living or working in neighbouring communities. She ensures compliance with regulations pertaining to the environmental effects of nuclear projects and facilities at every phase of their lifecycle.

Adrienne is also involved in the review of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ proposed near surface disposal facility. As part of the CNSC’s review of this proposed facility, she provides expert technical leadership regarding the project’s predicted effects on the public and the environment during construction, operation and decommissioning. She also ensures that the project is meeting all applicable regulatory requirements.

Expertise and education

Adrienne holds a PhD focused on the development of aquatic environmental risk assessment modelling tools and the use of stable isotope analyses to reconstruct food webs, aquatic habitat and geochemical profiles. She has since gained a diverse professional background in the nuclear industry in the areas of environmental risk assessment, risk communication, emergency preparedness, safety analysis, and environmental and effluent monitoring.

Other roles

Adrienne currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Sherbrooke and as chair of the CSA Group team responsible for CSA standards N288.6, Environmental Risk Assessments at Nuclear Facilities and Uranium Mines and Mills, and N288.4, Environmental Monitoring Programs at Nuclear Facilities and Uranium Mines and Mills, with which CNSC nuclear licensees must comply. In addition, she serves as a technical secretary and/or subject-matter expert for several international organizations, including the International Commission on Radiological Protection, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.