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Operations, regulation, oversight, and procurement at the Port Hope low-level radiation of the type that is emitted at the PHAI project
Area Initiative are all essentially controlled by the federal requires scientific and technical knowledge that should be
government. This arrangement is problematic because there is no communicated to the very workers who are exposed. Doing so
independently-verifiable mechanism to ensure that the way the should allow workers to have a frank and open dialogue with
project is regulated is not beholden to a single authority; in this radiation experts in a way that makes the topic of radiation
case, the federal government, when it comes to protecting workers’ exposure accessible and understandable without any scientific,
health and safety. technical, or bureaucratic jargon which may at times act as a
deterrent that draws people away from the subject, as opposed to
About the Project
getting them engaged.
The Port Hope project involves the building of a long-term waste
management facility and supporting infrastructure for the long-term In a work environment where every single aspect of the project is
management of 1.2 million cubic metres of low-level radioactive controlled by federal government bureaucrats, it is difficult for
waste, cleanup of the waste from various sites in Port Hope, and workers to have full trust and confidence that they will be protected,
its transportation to the facility, and long-term maintenance and no matter how capable or well-intentioned those bureaucrats may
monitoring. be. Involving an independent, not-for-profit organization like the RSIC
(but not necessarily the RSIC), would be an ideal and welcome
The Port Granby project includes the construction of a long-term waste
addition to the Port Hope Area Initiative as a third-party verifier of
management facility and supporting infrastructure for the safe, long-
the monitoring that is conducted so that workers can have
term management of 450,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive
assurances that their health, from a radiation point of view, is
waste, currently located at an existing site on the shoreline of Lake
protected.
Ontario in southeastern Clarington. The waste will be relocated to a
Conclusion
new, engineered aboveground mound to be built away from the lake
approximately 700 metres north of the existing site. The Building Trades will continue to push the federal government,
including all entities involved with the Port Hope Area Initiative, to
Potential Involvement of the RSIC engage independent, third-party, not-for-profit verification and
For the past three years, the Building Trades have been trying, in monitoring at Port Hope and Port Granby, as the project continues
good faith, to bring in independent, third-party, not-for-profit to unfold. Whether the RSIC in particular is brought in to provide
expertise to verify and monitor workers’ exposure levels at PHAI. those services, or whether a competitive bidding process is
Indeed, the Nuclear Safety and Control Act permits in Section 17(1) established by federal officials to solicit proposals in establishing
the CNSC to contract for technical and scientific services to “advise a mechanism for independent expertise does not matter to the
and assist” the CNSC “with the performance of its powers, duties Building Trades. What does matter is the confidence and
and functions.” One organization that is willing and capable of assurances that workers need, to know that their health and safety
providing the necessary services and expertise is the Radiation is protected without any lingering doubts. Past experience shows
Safety Institute of Canada (RSIC), which is an incorporated, not-for- that when a false sense of confidence prevails among those who
profit Institute with decades of experience in providing “good regulate jobsites and ‘manage risk,’ the resultant outcomes can be
science in plain language” that workers can understand and depend tragic; not for those doing the regulating or managing, but for those
on without feeling intimidated. Understanding radiation, including performing the work.

The Port Hope Area Initiative
ground-breaking ceremony.
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