Centre for Energy™ : Milestones

Milestones

The nuclear power industry operates in a world of changing environmental events, government policy and environmental regulations. Here is a brief timeline of events, policies and regulations that relate to the industry and its environmental impacts:

Date

Event

1930s	•	Canada’s first uranium mine begins operation at Port Radium in the Northwest Territories.
1940s	•	At its Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) begins research and development to produce electricity from nuclear energy.
1945	•	Canada’s first nuclear facility – ZEEP (Zero Energy Experimental Pile) – begins operation at Chalk River Laboratories, Ontario. ZEEP achieved the first atomic fission in Canada and the first self-sustained nuclear reaction outside the U.S. It laid the groundwork for further peaceful applications of nuclear science and the eventual development of the CANDU power reactor.
1946	•	The Canadian government passes the Atomic Energy Control Act and also establishes the Atomic Energy Control Board. This new federal agency is responsible for ensuring that nuclear energy use in Canada meets health, safety, security and environmental standards.
1947	•	The Nuclear Reactor Experimental (NRX) research reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, starts operation.
1952	•	AECL is incorporated as a federal crown corporation.
1962	•	The first nuclear power plant in Canada, Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD), begins operation at Rolphton, Ontario.
1964	•	The Ontario government announces plans to build large-scale CANDU nuclear reactors at Pickering, Ontario.
1970	•	Canada, the U.S. and 60 other countries sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act, intended to prevent misuse of nuclear weapons. Canada’s nuclear energy exports are subject to stringent export and nuclear non-proliferation policies.
1971	•	Pickering Unit 1, Canada’s first large scale nuclear power plant, starts operation.
1977	•	The federal department of Energy, Mines and Resources (now Natural Resources Canada) commissions an independent expert panel to study and report on safe, long-term storage of radioactive waste. The panel recommends the development of a national plan for the management and disposal of all radioactive wastes.
1978	•	Federal and Ontario governments set up the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program to develop safe and permanent disposal methods for used nuclear fuel. AECL is given the task of researching and developing the concept of a deep geologic disposal site in the Canadian Shield.
1979	•	At Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, operator errors and a valve failure cause a partial fuel meltdown and a small leak of radioactive steam at the Three Mile Island nuclear station. No one is hurt. But the incident heightens public concerns over the safety of nuclear plants and deals a severe blow to industry growth plans in the U.S. It also results in significant improvements to operator training and hardware equipment.
1982	•	Under the auspices of Natural Resources Canada, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office is established to oversee the handling and storage of “historic” low-level radioactive wastes (from past industrial operations and research activities in Canada).
1986	•	Poor reactor design and a flawed test procedure employed by operators causes a very severe accident at Chernobyl Unit 4 near Kiev, Ukraine. A steam explosion occurs and destroys the reactor. One person is killed by the building collapse, about 135,000 people are evacuated and 30 people die within weeks from acute radiation sickness. Radiation from the accident is detected as far north as Scandinavia, as far west as Switzerland and, in trace quantities, around the world.
1994	•	The AECL submits its report on deep geologic disposal of nuclear waste to the federal government. The government’s Environmental Assessment Agency Panel begins a review of the proposal, carrying out public consultations in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan — the five provinces in which nuclear waste is either produced or where nuclear R&D facilities are located.
1995	•	The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act becomes law.
1997	•	The Canadian government passes the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, replacing the Atomic Control Act of 1946. The new act is designed to provide a more modern and effective regulatory framework for the nuclear industry. The act also replaces the Atomic Energy Control Board with a new organization called the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Canada and other countries sign the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste, the first international agreement to promote the safety of spent fuel and the management of radioactive waste. It goes into effect in 2001.
1998	•	After extensive public hearings, the federal government’s Environmental Assessment Agency Panel completes its review of the deep geologic concept. It finds the safety of the AECL proposal technically sound but concludes that it remains a socially unacceptable plan in Canada. The World Energy Congress recommends that “nuclear power should play a major role in contributing to electricity provision and in strategies to combat global warming.”
2002	•	The Canadian government passes the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act. The new legislation calls on nuclear power producers to create the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. U.S. President George Bush approves a recommendation, in principle, that the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada be developed as the nation’s first long-term geologic depository for used nuclear fuel and high-level waste from military programs. This proposal is later approved by the U.S. Congress.
2003	•	Pickering Unit 4 returns to service.
2004	•	Bruce B Units 3 and 4 return to service.