Speaking Notes for Rumina Velshi President & CEO, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission To the Canadian Nuclear Association- Nuclear Energy Institute Nuclear Energy Forum

Check Against Delivery

Thank you, Doug, for your kind introduction.

It’s a pleasure to be here today among so many leaders in our industry including US NRC Commissioner David Wright, who I have an honour to speak alongside during this session.   

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we find ourselves today on the traditional territory of many Nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee (hau-den-o-SAU-nee-ga) and the Wendat. This land continues to be home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

I want to thank the Canadian Nuclear Association and the Nuclear Energy Institute for organizing these important meetings.

As always, this forum has explored many issues that matter deeply to us all in this moment of growth and challenge.

The major through-line of the past several years at the CNSC can be summed up in a single word: Readiness.

We understand that the world is changing. We understand that this industry is changing. And we need to change with it.

As I told my staff not long ago: We are public servants. What we do matters to the people of Canada – and to its future.

And so, I would like to begin today by expressing how proud I am to have been a part of the CNSC’s steady and ongoing transformation into a strong, proactive, and modern regulator.

We’re on a path toward the introduction of a new kind of technology.

And it is our role – our responsibility – to be ready for it.

Ready to protect the public by ensuring safety.

Ready to be diligent in demanding the highest standards of responsible operation.

But also: Ready to welcome innovation, so long as it is not at the expense of safety.

The importance of this work cannot be overstated.

It will shape the future of the nuclear industry here and around the world.

It will also help shape the reputation of the CNSC – and Canada’s place on the global stage.

But it’s not just about Canada, of course.

Our world is more interconnected than ever before.

The nuclear industry is increasingly global in nature.

From the outset of my term as President, the CNSC has been advocating for greater regulatory harmonization, cooperation, and collaboration across borders...

… to improve efficiency… and to achieve even greater excellence in our work.

Our efforts are already showing returns.

A good example is the CNSC’s Memorandum of Cooperation with the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission – to guide our collaborative efforts on SMRs.

It was the first of its kind – and it has been a game changer.

In the years since, we’ve watched other agencies follow suit.

Our MoC has led to sharing regulatory insights from technical design reviews and looking at developing common guidance for reviewing new build licence applications.

Collaborating in this way improves the effectiveness and efficiency of our regulatory reviews at home.

Let me give you an example.

In Canada, Ontario Power Generation has selected GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 technology for the proposed Darlington New Nuclear Project.

This technology has been going through both the CNSC’s Vendor Design Review process, and the NRC’s pre-application activities at the same time.

But here’s the difference. Because of our MoC, we have been working together to leverage our knowledge and experience through joint evaluations. In fact, we recently published our fourth joint evaluation report.

While we have always worked well with the NRC, we have now entered a whole new level of collaboration.

And we are laying the groundwork for even greater cooperation, as we move towards the licensing phase.

We have also developed a strategic plan that takes into account near and long-term goals of both organizations.

In terms of the GE Hitachi design, we have created a five-party working group with the CEOs of the CNSC, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ontario Power Generation, Tennessee Valley Authority, and GE-Hitachi.

The primary objective of this group is to ensure that a standard design of the BWRX 300 is deployed in both countries.

In the meantime, our engagement in international cooperation has extended to our counterparts in the U.K. and Poland, with whom we’ve signed similar MoCs.

These are great examples of how our SMR readiness efforts at home enable us to support and collaborate with likeminded regulators internationally, including emergent nuclear countries like Poland – and to work in parallel with the sector we oversee.

Speaking of our country’s role in the nuclear world, allow me to share a brief update from the recent IAEA meetings of Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety.

First and foremost, it was an opportunity to consider a range of extraordinary circumstances that could affect the security of nuclear installations – now and in the future.

Top of mind, of course, was the war between Russia and Ukraine – and the superb work that the IAEA has done on the ground to help keep Ukrainian nuclear facilities intact and secure. 

But there are other potential threats as well – and the common thread is that we each have a responsibility to stay vigilant… because we each have an interest in ensuring the safety of nuclear installations around the world.

During the meetings, Canada was recognized as a global standard setter for providing certainty and predictability in our licensing requirements and consistency in how we enforce them… and also for how we engage the public – and specifically Indigenous communities – in Commission proceedings.

We were also commended for the meticulous and effective planning that is guiding the on-time and on-budget refurbishment of the Darlington and Bruce facilities.

In all, our country emerged from the meetings as an A+ grade regulator – a point of pride for the CNSC and for all Canadians.

That said, there is always room for further improvement.

Here at home, the CNSC is working with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to review the impact assessment process – and its effect on timelines and certainty of outcomes for new nuclear projects.

Industry wants greater clarity and efficiency. And we are listening.

In fact, we are doing more than just listening.

We are moving with urgency to streamline the process – while maintaining public trust in our ability to ensure safety and provide robust regulatory oversight.

This is very much in keeping with the priorities of the federal government. The recent budget included a requirement that we have a plan in place by the end of this year for making the impact assessment process more efficient.

As many of you know, I will conclude my term as CNSC President this summer.

I do so with a sense of pride for all we’ve accomplished – and with a tremendous amount of optimism and hope for the future of the nuclear industry, here in Canada and around the world.

I know that optimism is shared by many in this room today.

But I’d like to end my remarks by issuing a challenge – to leaders across our industry, and to our society at large.

The OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency recently published a report on gender balance in the nuclear sector globally.

Among 16 responding countries, Canada ranked second-to-last.

Women make up only about 20 percent of our country’s nuclear workforce. 

This should be unacceptable to every person in this room.

And let’s be candid: We would get similarly discouraging results if we gauged the presence of persons of colour in the nuclear workplace.

As a woman and a person of colour, I have been in this industry for a long time – more than 40 years.

We’ve made some small degree of progress – but I thought we’d be much further along by now.

This is about something more than equality for equality’s sake.

It’s about achieving our potential.

If we are to take full advantage of the benefits of innovation, we need to attract the best and brightest to our industry.

The best men and the best women. Impressive people with good ideas – from all across the diverse range of the Canadian experience.

When we exclude – or fail to open ourselves up to – part of the population, we fall short of our potential.

As a world, we need to persuade more young women to pursue education and careers in the STEM disciplines.

As an industry, we need to hire them and mentor them – so that others follow in their footsteps.

Yes, the scope of the challenge is significant. Perhaps even daunting.

But what better way to adapt to a changing world than to infuse our industry with new energy and new perspectives – and ensure it is attracting the best and brightest of all genders and backgrounds?

When we empower women, when we embrace diversity and inclusion, we broaden our collective horizon.

We get better at what we do.

And everyone benefits.

Thank you for your attention.