Emergency Preparedness
Safety First
Our license is administered by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). Our facility is certified to ISO 14001:2015, a voluntary international standard for environmental management systems, demonstrating Nordion’s commitment to safety and environmental protection.
Our Public Information Program (PIP) is designed to ensure that information related to the health, safety and security of persons and the environment—and other issues associated with the lifecycle of our nuclear facility—are effectively communicated to those of you who live in our community.
For security reasons, we are unable to release our detailed Emergency Response (ER) Plans, but we are able to provide some of the highlights of our 24-hours 7-days-a-week year-round emergency preparedness program.
Plans
We have a number of Emergency Response Plans, examples include:
- Site Emergency Response Plan
- Crisis Communication Plan
- Radiation Emergency Response Plan
- Fire Safety Plan
- Communicable Disease Response Plan
- Industrial Irradiator Emergency Response Plan
- Chemical Spill Response Plan
- Transportation Emergency Response Assistance Plan
- First Aid Program
Each plan is comprehensive and, to ensure thoroughness, considers a range of possible events both on site and during transportation.
Process
Our Emergency Response Plans outline the preparation for, assessment of, and response to an emergency at our Kanata facility, or during transport. The plan meets the requirements of the CNSC REGDOC-2.10.1, Nuclear Emergency Preparedness and Response. The plan puts in place the facilities, controls, procedures, practices and staff that assure the operations are safe and have no impact on the health of employees, the public and the environment.
Partners
We work in collaboration with Ottawa/Kanata public emergency response organizations, and we communicate with them regularly—as well as exercise with them—as part of our emergency preparedness. In the event of an emergency, Nordion will pro-actively communicate with the public. In some cases, we will communicate jointly with the Ottawa/Kanata emergency response organizations.
Training
Our ER Plans are reviewed regularly by our Emergency Management Working Group and our Emergency Management Steering Committee and we hold drills and exercises that ensure all personnel are trained in the event of a real emergency situation.
Experts
In the event of a real emergency situation, our qualified, dedicated ER personnel take charge. These include the Incident Manager, Safety and Environment Advisor, Facilities Advisor, Security Advisor, Occupational Health Services, Radiation Surveyors, Personnel Unit, Communications, and many other experts who have been trained in their area of specialty.
Communications
Depending on the nature and scale of emergency situation, an official Nordion spokesperson will communicate directly with the media or jointly with the public through Ottawa/Kanata’s public safety teams; e.g. Police Department, Fire Department, City of Ottawa Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Emergency Management Ontario. You would have the comfort in knowing that Nordion would provide regular updates through a number of communication channels such as:
Neighbours
An emergency situation that could impact the public is extremely remote; however, being “emergency prepared” is a smart choice. In the event of an emergency impacting the public, City of Ottawa Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Emergency Management Ontario would work with Nordion to lead the response. Links to their websites can be found at: https://ottawa.ca/en/residents/emergency-services/emergency-preparedness#office-emergency-management and www.emergencymanagementontario.ca
Contact
If you become aware that an emergency situation is taking place, yet haven’t heard from Nordion or the local authorities, you can:
Call us at 613-592-3400
Email: [email protected]
A Security personnel will log your inquiry and we will contact you as soon as possible. Until then, please listen for communications from the local authorities and/or Nordion through through social channels.
Nordion has a strong emergency preparedness and security program. These programs are highly regulated and we strive to continuously improve in these areas. We are committed to the safety and security of our employees, the people who live in our community, and the environment.