A multi-disciplinary team from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) had the chance to showcase their capabilities and expertise in nuclear emergency response in a major joint Canada – United States exercise. “Exercise Cobalt Magnet 2025”, hosted by the United States Department of Energy, was organized to evaluate the communication and response functions across state, federal, U.S.-Canadian, Canadian, provincial, and municipal emergency preparedness levels. For CNL, this meant an opportunity for its Radiological Assessment Team to take part in the federal field response and its Nuclear Response & Analysis team to provide the scientific expertise on the mock accident consequences.
The week-long, full-scale nuclear incident drill, involving complex, realistic scenarios, and multi-layered response efforts tested advanced radiological monitoring, data-driven assessment, communications, and long-term recovery strategies, helping strengthen readiness for a real-world radiological emergency. With participation on both sides of the border, it was one of the largest nuclear emergency preparedness exercises that has been carried out in Canada in decades.
Simulating an accident in the spent fuel pool of the Fermi II Nuclear Generating Station (called the Erie Nuclear Power Plant for the purpose of the exercise), the drill included over 70 agencies and more than 3,000 participants across government levels in the U.S. and Canada. Canadian contributions were led by the Government of Ontario and Health Canada, and CNL was engaged to support in the assessment of the accident and related source term and dispersion analysis. CNL efforts also included support to analyze the large number of (simulated) food, water, and soil samples that would be collected and delivered to Chalk River Laboratories for analysis – allowing several teams to test their High Purity Germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry capabilities, a highly sensitive and precise technique for detecting gamma radiation, as part of the response.
“If a nuclear emergency were to ever happen, CNL is highly equipped to help support Canada’s response and recovery from the incident,” says Dr. Luke Lebel, senior research scientist, Nuclear Research & Analysis, CNL. “This is a diverse team, from in-field experts and modelers to laboratory chemical analysis staff, that know how to work collectively with a range of other organizations and partners to protect Canadians.”
Cobalt Magnet 2025 was conducted in March 2025. CNL’s contributions were funded by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Federal Nuclear Science & Technology Work Plan.