SRB to receive environmental assessment; safety analysis under study

Pembroke, October 2, 2000. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will be assessing operations of SRB Technologies (Canada) Inc. (Pembroke, Ontario) under the provisions of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. It will also be reviewing a safety analysis of potential health risks should a fire occur at SRB's manufacturing facility for self-luminous lights.

The decisions to conduct an environmental assessment and review SRB's safety analysis were made in response to an intervention submitted by Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area (CCRC) for the Commission's first hearing on SRB, October 5. Licensing of all Class 1 nuclear facilities must be assessed under the federal environmental legislation. Commission staff initially proposed to "grandfather" an earlier screening of SRB done before the legislation came into force. The intervention from the Concerned Citizens noted that there have been significant changes in SRB's manufacturing operations, including operation of a "reclamation facility" to extract tritium from waste lights.

"We'd like the Commission to look carefully at the sources of SRB's releases of radioactive gases and their subsequent fate in the environment," stated CCRC researcher Ole Hendrickson. "We are disturbed by monitoring results showing high levels of radiation in people, plants and soil near the facility."

The Commission is also asking SRB to review its analysis of a fire at its facility. SRB's analysis assumes that any fire that could melt glass and oxidize elemental tritium to the toxic tritium oxide form would have to be extremely hot. This would create a tall plume that would dilute and disperse the tritium oxide harmlessly.

CCRC's intervention described a scenario not included in SRB''s analysis. "The contents of a single exit sign, if converted to tritium oxide and inhaled, could in theory provide a fatal dose of radiation," explained Hendrickson. "If firefighters attempted to control a blaze at SRB, they could crack the glass tubes and release their contents. Conversion to tritium oxide occurs rapidly in the presence of water. The firefighters and the surrounding public would be exposed to very serious health risks."

"Mr. Hendrickson's comment has been helpful in indicating an unanalyzed but conceivable possibility," according to an October 28 CNSC staff memo to Commission members. "SRB have been asked to provide analysis for the situation. This analysis will be presented to the Commission on Day 2 of the hearing [December 13]."

CCRCA