Public and Environmental Safety

To comply with our policy to prevent pollution and keep exposure to radiation for the community and employees as low as reasonably achievable, we maintain comprehensive effluent and environmental monitoring programs.

These include calculated, theoretical derived release limits (DRLs), which are approved by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). One DRL represents an estimated 1 mSv of radiation dose to the general public in the surrounding area per year.

Nordion continuously monitors liquid and airborne releases, compares them to its DRLs, and reports them to the CNSC. Our airborne and liquid releases are a fraction of the amount allowable.

Nordion's radioactive releases are less than 5 per cent of the DRL (0.05 mSv).  This is significantly less than the amount received (2.4 mSv-3.6 mSv) from natural background radiation.

In addition to the DRLs, Nordion monitors the environment through soil sampling and radiation dosimeters that are positioned at various locations on our property and in the surrounding community.