Important notes from the report dated June 28, 2018 To: Board of Health From: Medical Officer of Health Ward 17
BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada Inc. operates a uranium processing facility at 1025 Lansdowne Avenue uranium dioxide is processed into pellets for use in CANDU reactors.
As part of its Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission operating license, BWXT implements a comprehensive environmental monitoring program.
This includes,
- continuous air quality stack testing,
- ambient air monitoring at the facility boundary,
- soil testing,
- and water quality testing
The facility at Lansdowne has been operating at this site since 1955. In 2016, BWXT took over the operations from GE Hitachi
Public Disclosure Protocol
1. reporting on its website within 48 hours of unusual operational events
2. posting environmental monitoring results,
3. maintaining two-way communication channels with the target audience,
4. and consulting with stakeholders to determine the type of information sharing that is requested by the community.
Radiation Dose
In addition to environmental monitoring, BWTX is also required to estimate the total radiation dose to members of the public resulting from its operations. The effective dose is used to assess the potential for long term effects and is calculated in milliseverts. It takes into account the absorbed dose, the relative harm level of the radiation, and the sensitivity of the human body to radiation.
[bmtextbox type=”warning”]The Canadian Radiation Protection Regulations set the effective dose limit for the public at 1 mSv. [/bmtextbox]
[bmtextbox type=”alert”]At the Toronto BWTX facility, the total estimated radiation dose to a member of the public is 0.017 mSv, approximately 1.8% of the public dose limit.[/bmtextbox]
