Public Notice
MARCH 4, 2013
Shield Source Incorporated elects not to renew Nuclear Processing Licence.
Bill Lynch, President of Shield Source Incorporated (SSI), a manufacturer of self-luminous life safety signs located at the Peterborough Airport, announced today that the company will not seek a renewal of its Nuclear Substance Processing Facility Operating Licence to process tritium, but instead will apply for the necessary licensing to decommission the facility.
SSI voluntarily shut down its tritium processing operations in March 2012 when they discovered that their tritium emissions exceeded regulatory licence limits. Since that time a root cause investigation of the problem has been conducted by an independent third party expert. The report identified installation and set-up problems with the emission monitoring equipment to have caused the under-reporting of stack emissions. The full report is available in the Public Information Section of the SSI website (click here). The report confirms that public health and safety was never at risk.
While emission monitoring problems have been corrected with the installation of new equipment, the additional time and investment required to complete the necessary steps before applying for a new licence have been determined to be cost prohibitive. “A year without being able to operate our tritium processing, coupled with current market conditions, makes it impossible to justify further investment. We regret having to make this decision as we have been a part of the Peterborough business community for more than 25 years and will no longer be able to support our loyal employees.’ says Lynch.
SSI plans to decommission the facility in full compliance with all regulatory requirements while taking every precaution to safeguard the public and the environment. SSI expects that this will be an ongoing process that may not be completed until late in the year. During this time, the facility will have adequate staff on site and all scheduled emission and environmental monitoring will continue.
FEBRUARY 2013
On January 31, 2013, SSI provided a response to the CNSC Staff's Review of SSI's Root Cause Analysis Report (November 30, 2012 letter).
SSI response to the CNSC Staff's Review of SSI's Root Cause Analysis Report
JANUARY 2013
The CNSC has issued SSI a one year Licence which will expire on December 31, 2013. A copy of this licence can be found on our Licence Information page in the Public Information section of this website. The CNSC's Record of Proceedings, Including Reasons for Decision can be found at the link below.
CNSC Record of Proceedings, Including Reasons for Decision
DECEMBER 2012
The CNSC responded to SSI’s Root Cause Analysis Report with their letter of November 30, 2012. A copy of this letter is attached below. SSI will respond to this letter no later than January 31, 2013.
CNSC Staff’s Review of SSI’s Root Cause Analysis Report
AUGUST 22, 2012
SSI voluntarily suspended tritium processing operations on March 28, 2012 to complete an investigation into the recently discovered discrepancies in reported vs. actual tritium emissions from their facility. Below is a link to the 42-page report of the "Root Cause Investigation" that was conducted and written by an independent third party. This report identifies the discrepancies in emissions, the cause of these discrepancies, and includes corrective actions that are already in process, most of which will be completed prior to re-applying to the CNSC for a new operating Licence.
Root Cause Investigation: Tritium Stack Emissions Reporting Discrepancies
APRIL 25, 2012
On April 11, 2012, SSI provided a Preliminary Report to the CNSC regarding our recent voluntary suspension of operations which was followed by a detailed report provided on April 25, 2012.
On March 27, 2012, SSI was informed by a third party consultant that a parallel stack monitoring program has shown a discrepancy between the recorded tritium gas (HT) emissions values and the computer generated values used to create our reports. It was also determined that the calculated tritium oxide (HTO) values are accurate.
SSI immediately suspended our tritium fill machine operations until we can determine the cause of the discrepancy. It was determined that SSI has accurate emissions data recorded with a calibrated stack monitor and chart recorder. The computer program that is used to calculate the values was found to have calculation errors. Our emissions data for 2010 through 2012 has been recalculated to determine the appropriate values which are included in our report. Although the HT emissions are increased, the independent environmental sampling performed over the last 2 years show an overall decrease in the tritium found in the environment (air, water, vegetation). This data has been reviewed and is accurate. Based on our environmental data, the new emissions values do not pose any increased risk to the public, environment or our employees.
Detailed Report - Stack Emissions Discrepancies
APRIL 24, 2012
The CNSC has today announced the Commission Member Hearing scheduled for May 2, 2012 to consider the licence renewal request of SSI has been cancelled.
After discussions between the CNSC and SSI, it was determined that more time is required to assess information related to discrepancies in stack monitoring data and reported emissions before a licensing decision can be made.
To accommodate this delay, the CNSC Staff has recommended to extend SSI’s current Licence to December 31, 2012 and amend it to prohibit the processing of tritium gas until the Commission approves a re-start of this activity. If approved by the CNSC Commission, this amendment would formalize SSI’s voluntary shut down which was implemented on March 27, 2012.
It is SSI’s intention to request a hearing date be re-scheduled as soon as it is determined to be appropriate. Prior to a new hearing, a Notice of Public Hearing will be issued and the public will be given the opportunity to participate.
CNSC Public Notice of Cancellation
APRIL 20, 2012
Thank you for joining us at our information session. Please find the link to our powerpoint presentation. Should you have any questions, you may contact us by email at info@shieldsource.com or by phone at 705-743-6146.
APRIL 19, 2012 Public Information Session
Please join us as we share information about our operations and environmental impact on
Thursday April 19, 2012
7pm – 9pm
Evinrude Centre,
911 Monaghan Rd, Peterborough, ON
Multi-Purpose Room
SSI Invitation to the Public Information Session (PDF)
APRIL 2012 UPDATE: Voluntary Suspension of Operations
On April 11, 2012, SSI provided a Preliminary Report to the CNSC regarding our recent voluntary suspension of operations. On March 27, 2012, SSI was informed by a third party consultant that a parallel stack monitoring program has shown a discrepancy between the recorded tritium gas (HT) emissions values and the computer generated values used to create our reports. It was also determined that the calculated tritium oxide (HTO) values are accurate.
SSI immediately suspended our tritium fill machine operations until we can determine the cause of the discrepancy. Although a formal report has not been received, it was determined that SSI has accurate emissions data recorded with a calibrated stack monitor and chart recorder. The computer program that is used to calculate the values was found to have calculation errors. Our emissions data for 2010 through 2012 has been recalculated to determine the appropriate values which are included in our report. Although the HT emissions are increased, the independent environmental sampling performed over the last 2 years show an overall decrease in the tritium found in the environment (air, water, vegetation). This data has been reviewed and is accurate. Based on our environmental data, the new emissions values do not pose any increased risk to the public, environment or our employees.
Evaluation will continue with a full report to be provided to the CNSC by April 25, 2012. This document will be made available to the public on April 26, 2012.
SSI Preliminary Report regarding our voluntary suspension of operations (PDF)
SSI Preliminary Report Update (complete with Third Party Report, April 12, 2012) (PDF)
For further information, please contact us at 705-743-6146 or info@shieldsource.com.
APRIL 2012
On March 28, 2012, we suspended operations to investigate potential errors in calculated HT emission data. HT is tritium gas that is emitted in small quantities from our exhaust stack during our production process. The CNSC was notified of this decision on the same day.
After consultation with independent consultants and the CNSC, we have decided to hire a third party consultant to install a parallel monitoring system to verify emission data during a limited production three day test scheduled to commence on April 3rd. Based on the values under consideration, this is not considered a threat to the public. Verified independent environmental sampling of air, water, and vegetation remains at historically safe levels. Additional information will be posted on this website as soon as it’s available.
MARCH 2012
On March 2, 2012, we submitted our Commission Member Document (CMD) to the CNSC requesting a licence renewal decision. A copy of this document can be found here: Licence Renewal
Just a reminder, you can support our licence renewal by making comments to the CSNC by April 2, 2012 to the address found below.
FEBRUARY 2012
Shield Source Incorporated submitted an application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for the renewal of our Class 1B License. Our current license expires July 31, 2012. The licensing process includes the submission of a written application and a hearing that will be open to the public. We have received notification that our PUBLIC HEARING will be held MAY 2, 2012 at the CNSC headquarters in OTTAWA. Please watch this portion of our website for additional updates.
If you have any concerns or questions, please contact Shield Source Incorporated by phone at 705-743-6146, by fax at 705-743-2942 or by email at info@shieldsource.com.
For your added information we provide the following information from the CNSC website:
One-day public hearing process
For a one-day hearing, all of the evidence from the applicant, CNSC staff and intervenors is heard by the Commission in a single hearing session. To allow potential intervenors to review the proposal and prepare for the hearing, written submissions from the applicant and CNSC staff must be filed at least 60 days prior to the hearing day.
Intervenors are then invited to register their submissions at least 30 days prior to the hearing. Participants may file supplementary information up to 7 days prior to the hearing day.
Commission hearings are normally open to the public, but some are also be held "in-camera" (closed session) in whole or in part. For example, certain protected information may not be discussed in a public forum.
Contact
Commission Secretariat
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
280 Slater St.
P.O. Box 1046, Station B
Ottawa, ON K1P 5S9
Phone: 613-996-9063 or 1-800-668-5284 (toll-free)
Fax: 613-995-5086
Email: interventions@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca
