Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) request to licensees with tailings facilities

Uranium Mining at Cameco's Rabbit Lake Mine in Saskatchewan. — Photo courtesy Cameco Corporation

Further to the recent tailings dam breach at the Mount Polley open pit copper/gold mine in British Columbia, the CNSC has issued a request for action by Canadian licensees with tailing facilities.

A letter was sent to the following licensees with action requested by September 15, 2014:

·         AREVA
·         Cameco Corporation
·         Rio Algom Limited
·         Willet Green Miller Ctr
·         P.J. Brugger and Associates
·         EWL Management Ltd.
·         Denison Mines Inc.

Here is the letter sent to all nuclear facilities in Canada

The recent tailings dam breach that occurred at the Mt Polley mine in British Columbia on August 4, 2014 has raised awareness of issues associated with tailings impoundments. This is a reminder that vigilance must be maintained by ensuring that tailings dams continue to be properly designed, constructed, operated, maintained and monitored to prevent such occurrences.

Given the most recent event and the CNSC strong commitment and expectation for reviewing and learning from others experiences, I, as the Chief Regulatory Operations Officer, request that you do the following:

• review the causes of the tailings dam breach at Mt. Polley mine and confirm that the safety case for the tailings dam at your facility remains valid;
• confirm and demonstrate that all necessary operations, inspections and monitoring have been conducted in compliance with your licence and licence conditions handbook;
• confirm that the mitigation measures are in place to mitigate breach accidents; and
• report on any identified gaps and the associated plans to address them.

Please respond to this request by September 15, 2014, providing the following information:
a) confirmation that the request will or will not be carried out or will be carried out in part;
b) any activity that you have taken to carry out the request or any part of it;
c) any reasons why the request or any part of it will not be carried out;
d) any proposed alternative means to achieve the objectives of the request; and
e) any proposed alternative period within which you propose to carry out the request.

As part of our next inspections planned for your sites, CNSC staff will be conducting walk down inspections of your above-ground taillings management facilities to independently verify that the safety control measures for tailings dams are in place and remain adequate.

As the investigations on the Mt Polley event are completed, CNSC staff may request further measures to addresses any identified issues or concerns that may be applicable to the management of about ground tailings.

The letter was issued by Ramzi Jammal, Executive Vice-President and Chief Regulator Operations Officer.