The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says the latest air samples show beryllium emissions from the BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada facility in Peterborough, Ont., remain below provincial limits and pose no risk to human health and the environment.
During Peterborough Public Health’s board meeting on Wednesday, the commission provided an update on the annual air quality monitoring which is required around the facility on Monaghan Road. The company is located just metres away from Prince of Wales Public School.
The Toronto-based company utilities uranium and “small amounts” of beryllium — a lightweight metal — to join portions of fuel bundles at the Peterborough facility using uranium dioxide pellets produced at its facility in Toronto. The pellets are then inserted into the tubes to create fuel bundles.
CNSC director Andrew McAllister told the board that the public continues to raise concerns about beryllium use and levels at the facility. The commission says in the most recent air sampling conducted in the summer of 2023, the hours of sampling were extended from eight to 72. Warmer months (July to September) were selected to “maximize potential for beryllium collection.”
One of the locations for testing was at the Prince of Wales Public School school yard. The others were on the south of the BWX facility inside its fence-line and east of the facility inside the GE property fence line, as indicated in this commission slide:
Air sampling locations near the BWX Peterborough facility.
He noted testing at site 3 was “cut short” due to noise concerns from residents along Wolfe Street, conducting 27 hours instead of 72.
“In order to conduct this sampling, the CNSC sourced a new sampler appropriate for continuous operations in adverse weather conditions with the ability to run effectively over extended periods,” said McAllister.
He said examinations of the samples determined that an “extremely small amount” of beryllium — 0.0000056 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) — was found at site 1 during monitoring in mid-July.
McAllsiter says that amount is “well below” Ontario’s Ambient Air Quality Criteria release limit of 0.01 µg/m³.
“This measurable beryllium can be coming from a number of natural and human activities,” said McAllister.
He noted the other two sites had samples that were “not above the detection limit,” meaning that the amount found was smaller than what could be measured by lab methods.
A sampler being used to test air quality for beryllium in the schoolyard of Prince of Wales Public School in Peterborough, Ont.
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
“These results confirms that levels of beryllium in air (around BWXT) are negligible and well below air quality guidelines that are protective of human health and the environment,” he said.
The director said that even with testing hours extended, his staff “continue to conclude” that the amount of beryllium in air is “extremely low and does not pose any risk to the health of the community or the environment at these concentrations.”
He noted that staff recommend that the independent environmental monitoring program for air sampling continue once every three years and that the company’s annual soil sampling for beryllium and uranium continue. The sampling is required as part of the BXWT’s licensing renewal agreement.
The commission’s full report is available on its website.
Video of the commission’s presentation to the health unit’s board can be found here.
