The nuclear industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world with licensing requirements for construction, operation and decommissioning of all operations.
The industry is not only regulated at the provincial and national levels, but also internationally to ensure that nuclear energy products are used for peaceful purposes. Today, nuclear energy is being used for electricity generation, medicine, agriculture and research. International non-proliferation agreements determine which countries and groups can use it, and how.
Advances in safety procedures have given the industry a strong record for both radiation safety as well as conventional safety. Employees wear personal dosimeters to monitor their radiation exposure and the facilities are also monitored for radiation levels. Both measures are consistently recorded at a fraction of the regulatory limits.
Transportation of uranium products, fuel and waste is highly regulated, with all shipments tracked and monitored. Employees and local authorities are trained and able to respond in the case of unforeseen events.
Spent fuel from nuclear power generation is very small in volume, especially when compared to fossil fuel sources. It is also fully managed by the industry, with all of the spent fuel stored on reactor sites in Canada.
As technologies for recycling and reprocessing spent fuel advance, used fuel rods may become very valuable to the industry. A number of countries, including France and Japan, are reprocessing used fuel to recover the large amount of residual energy it contains.
As for byproducts of fuel production, all releases to the environment are very carefully treated and subject to ongoing monitoring and control. Waste management is top priority for the nuclear industry and is regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in Canada.
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