Notice of participant funding offering for the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Near Surface Disposal Facility Project

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is offering another round of participant funding to assist Indigenous peoples, members of the public and stakeholders in the review of the environmental assessment and licence application and in participating in a future Commission hearing process for the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Ltd. (CNL) Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) Project. This is the second opportunity to apply for participant funding for the NSDF project.

Under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, CNL is requesting an amendment to its existing nuclear research and test establishment licence for the Chalk River Laboratories site. Before the CNSC can make a licensing decision on this proposal, an environmental assessment (EA) conducted under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 is required. The dates and location of associated CNSC public Commission hearings, will be announced at a later date in a notice of public hearing.

Participant funding of up to $150,000 will be disbursed among all successful applicants. Funding will be awarded for the review of documentation including the EA report; CNSC staff and CNL Commission member documents, when they become available; and for participation in associated and yet-to-be-announced public Commission hearings where applicants will be given the opportunity to provide new, distinctive and valuable information, through informed and topic-specific interventions to the Commission. Please note that applicants who were awarded funding under the previous NSDF participant funding opportunity will be required to justify, in their new application, the need for additional funding to continue participating in the process.

The deadline for submitting a participant funding application is May 24, 2019.

The CNSC regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment; to implement Canada's international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy; and to disseminate objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public.

For information on how to participate, view the Near Surface Disposal Facility Project and the Participant Funding Program sections of the CNSC website.