Cameco and Zircatec relicensing decisions forthcoming

PORT HOPE, ONTARIO - The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will announce its decisions on relicensing applications from Cameco and Zircatec soon, according to a commission spokesperson.

The announced decisions will come before current licences for both facilities run out at the end of this month, CNSC manager of communications and technical support Pascale Bourassa told the Evening Guide.

Both facilities, owned by Saskatoon-based Cameco Corporation, applied for five-year licence renewals.

Three days of public hearings were held at Town Park Recreation Centre at the end of November. A total of 284 interventions were filed by the public regarding operations at the two facilities.

According to the CNSC web site, decisions usually come within six weeks of the hearings. But due to a number of priorities and a heavy schedule for the commission, some decisions take longer than usual, Ms. Bourassa said. Transcripts of the three-day Port Hope hearings are available on the CNSC web site, www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca.

Cameco operates a uranium conversion facility on Eldorado Drive. Zircatec manufactures nuclear fuel bundles for CANDU reactors.