Port Hope Area Initiative

Backgrounder

April 2016

The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) is the Government of Canada’s commitment to the cleanup and safe long-term management of 1.7 million cubic metres of historic low-level radioactive waste within the neighbouring Ontario municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington.

The historic waste resulted from radium and uranium processing in Port Hope between 1933 and 1988 by the former Crown corporation Eldorado Nuclear Limited and its private sector predecessors. 

The PHAI is based on a 2001 legal agreement between the Government of Canada and the local municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington to carry out the cleanup.  In January 2012, the Minister of Natural Resources announced a Government of Canada investment of $1.28 billion over 10 years for the implementation phase of the PHAI. The PHAI is being implemented by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories on behalf of Atomic Energy of Limited (AECL), a federal Crown corporation.     

The Port Granby Project involves the construction of an engineered above-ground mound at a new long-term waste management facility and the remediation of 450,000 cubic metres of historic low-level radioactive waste at the existing Port Granby Waste Management Facility. The remediation includes the excavation and transfer of the waste for placement in the mound, which is scheduled to begin in fall 2016. The existing site is expected to be remediated and restored and the new mound capped and closed by the end of 2020.

The Port Hope Project involves the construction of an engineered above-ground mound at a new long-term waste management facility being constructed at the site of the existing Welcome Waste Management Facility; the cleanup of 1.2 million cubic metres of historic waste throughout the community; and the transport of that waste to the new facility, where it will be safely managed. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Canada’s independent nuclear regulator, is responsible for licensing, regulating and monitoring the activities carried out under the Port Hope Area Initiative.

Contact

Alexandre Deslongchamps
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Natural Resources
343-292-6837

Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa
343-292-6100

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Hon. James Gordon Carr Natural Resources Canada Science and Technology