Canada - Status and Trends Report - July 2016 (rev D2): National framework for management of spent fuel and radioactive waste

Radioactive waste has been produced in Canada since the early 1930s when the first radium and uranium mine opened in Port Radium, Northwest Territories. Pitchblende ore was transported from the Port Radium mine to Port Hope, Ontario, where it was refined to produce radium for medical purposes and, later, uranium for nuclear fuel and military applications. Research and development on the application of nuclear energy to produce electricity began in the 1940s at Chalk River Laboratories (CRL). At present, radioactive waste is generated in Canada from the various stages and uses associated with the nuclear fuel cycle: • uranium mining and milling; • refining and conversion; • nuclear fuel fabrication; • nuclear reactor operations; • nuclear research; • radioisotope manufacture and use (including medical and industrial uses).