Chalk River Laboratories - 2008 Radioactive Leakage

2008 Radioactive Leakage

On December 5, 2008, heavy water containing tritium leaked from the NRU reactor. The leaked water was contained within the facility, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) was notified immediately, as required. In its formal report to the CNSC, filed on December 9, 2008 (when the volume of leakage was determined to meet the requirement for such a report) AECL mentioned that 47 litres of heavy water were released from the reactor, about 10% of which evaporated and the rest contained, but affirmed that the spill was not serious and did not present a threat to public health . The amount that evaporated to the atmosphere is considered to be minor, accounting for less than a thousandth of the regulatory limit . The public was informed of the shutdown at the reactor, but not the details of the leakage since it was not deemed to pose a risk to the public or environment. The leak stopped before the source could be identified, and the reactor was restarted on December 11, 2008 with the approval of the CNSC, after a strategy for dealing with the leak (should it return) was put in place. In an unrelated incident, the same reactor had been leaking 7,001 litres of light water per day from a crack in a weld of the reactor's reflector system. This water has been systematically collected, purified in an on-site Waste Treatment Centre, and eventually released to the Ottawa River in accordance with CNSC, Health Canada, and Ministry of the Environment regulations. Although the leakage is not a concern to the CNSC from a health, safety or environmental perspective, AECL has plans for a repair to reduce the current leakage rate for operational reasons.