Awards of Excellence

D.F. Togerson Award: Innovations in Facilities Decommissioning

David Gaunt, George Al Haddad, Jeffrey Fortin, Kuwar Dalal, and Tom Vaughan For the digital transformation of Decommissioning & Environmental Remediation by the Innovations team. In June / July 2022, CNL’s digital twin server was brought online which initiated CNL's point cloud database. This enabled virtual walkdowns which saves planning time and improves the accuracy of field data. This digital transformation has provided valuable insights for decommissioning planning and radiation cleanup efforts. It has also demonstrated originality and ingenuity by integrating different data sources for analysis.

D.F. Togerson Award: Electrical resistivity variation assessment

Mark Luloff and Jeffrey Olfert  For the impact of electrical resistivity variation on the assessment of fuel channel to calandria gap.  Previously, high-accuracy measurement of electrical resistivity in the hot cell environment was not achievable and the electrical resistivity variations in irradiated material (+/- <5%) had not been observable. This work developed and implemented this capability at CNL. Through the work, electrical resistivity evolution has been correlated with pressure tube microstructure evolution in the reactor, and the electrical resistivity measurements capability are being used to further characterize pressure tube (PT) microstructure, at a fraction of the cost of destructive examinations. Future work is expected to benefit delayed-hydride cracking-rate and hydrogen ingress studies. The in-cell electrical resistivity results have enabled the use of analytical modeling for simulating the PT and calandria tube (CT) eddy-current gap-probe response, which allows the effect of many influential parameters to be studied. This is at a fraction of the cost of an empirical study with physical samples. Due to this work, improvements to PT/CT gap measurement accuracy are also being undertaken, and this has allowed the utilities to demonstrate high confidence in their PT/CT gap measurements to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. From the start, this research was 100 per cent funded through the CANDU Owners Group (COG), and its success has enabled further commercial work from COG and follow on work directly with the utilities. In the past two years, the nominees have been routinely asked to present on the topic at industry seminars, and are now recognized as experts by the industry. The nominees’ expertise in this area was specifically recognized by the highest levels of the Bruce Power executive during a recent commercial project. Papers on this topic have also been published in the open literature, and more articles are planned in the coming months / years.

D.F. Togerson Award: 3D printing using uranium dioxide

Anil Prasad, Catherine Thiriet, Daniel Cluff, James Crigger, Jeffrey Battersby, Nikolas Kotsios, and Reeghan Osmond  For 3D printing using uranium dioxide.  The “3D Printing using Uranium Dioxide” project is being nominated to acknowledge the exceptional achievement by the fuel development research team of the successful and safe 3D printing using radioactive natural uranium dioxide (UO₂). The work is the culmination of several years of dedicated research, which commenced in 2017, and several iterations of development, building upon the 3D printing of other, related, materials including inert zirconia and radioactive thoria. Conventional nuclear power reactors are fueled using UO₂ in the form of cylinders stacked in fuel elements to form fuel bundles. While the cylindrical fuel form has the advantage of ease of production (i.e., the pressing and sintering a right cylinder fuel pellet is an established methodology), a compromise must be met with the temperature gradient experienced across the fuel pellets during operation due to the extremely poor heat conductivity of UO₂. With the nuclear industry seeking to increase the reactor coolant temperature to increase efficiency, a new fuel design is required in order to tolerate the increase in operating temperatures. The application of the 3D printing process to create a three-dimensional object layer-by-layer using plastic and a computer-generated design can be applied to the fabrication of nuclear fuel, thereby uncovering a technique that can print new geometries in order to improve the safety and performance of future reactors.

D.F. Togerson Award: Clean hydrogen production demonstration

Adrian Vega, Amir Motamed Dashliborun, Blessing Ibeh, David Ouellette, Hongqiang Li, Lorne Stolberg, Mitchell Morrison, Randy Bent, Sam Suppiah, Stacey Reinwald, and Wenyu Zhang For the first successful lab scale demonstration of the complete hybrid copper chlorine thermochemical process for clean hydrogen production. The need for large-scale hydrogen production in Canada without producing greenhouse gases is becoming more important every day. The Hybrid Copper Chloride thermochemical hydrogen production process (known as HCuTEC™) utilizes both heat and electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The process is quite complex, as it consists of four steps that contain multiple streams and pieces of equipment. In April of 2018, the process had been studied in several laboratories for many years, but only one of the four process steps had been demonstrated on a small scale. The key accomplishment is that from rudimentary lab steps, by the end of March 2022, the CNL project team had developed the complete process to a level where all four steps have been demonstrated and integrated into a laboratory scale process that can produce 100 grams per day of hydrogen. The project also included a proprietary and unique process model simulation, and an optimized integration of process heat management with various heat and electricity sources. The project team made exceptional efforts to transform a rudimentary simple lab scale demo into a fulsome proprietary, fully integrated, lab scale demonstration of all steps. As a result of their efforts, sufficient data to be ready for further scaling up of the process from the current laboratory scale to a pilot plant or commercial scale. External industrial partners have expressed interest in working with CNL to further develop this process and build a pilot scale plant that will produce 50 kg/d of hydrogen.

D.F. Togerson Award: Building 204 Bowser Filtration Room Team

Building 204 Bowser Filtration Room Team For the teamwork on the Bowser Filtration Room Project.  The Building 204 team developed a novel and ingenious strategy to remove approximately 6,500kgs of highly active tanks and components from the Bowser Filtration Room. A removal plan using workers was replaced with a strategy to create a separate access into the Bowser Room, use robots to do the removals and build the necessary customized infrastructure adjacent to the new access point outside the building. The work has recently been completed and is being lauded as an incredible success and shining example of Facility Decommissioning’s world-class capabilities.

D.F. Togerson Award: Biaxial Burst Testing

Alex Reavie, Chris Straubel, Dan McDonald, David Dean, David Poff, Eric Sansoucy, Jeffrey DeJong, Joey Zhou, Kurt Stoll, Michael Gharghouri, Noel Harrison, Paul Joynes, Robert Standring, Sherry Laroche, Toban Verdun, Tyler Campbell, Tyler Miles, and Zia Haque For the work on the biaxial stress relaxation and burst testing of irradiated light water reactor (LWR) fuel cladding.  This team displayed exceptional dedication, innovation, and problem-solving skills, in a tight schedule, during the development of a unique biaxial burst apparatus (BBA) for mechanical testing light water reactor (LWR) irradiated fuel cladding under a commercial contract. This unique apparatus used state-of-the-art technologies that, when combined, enabled measurement and control of the strain / strain rate of an irradiated fuel cladding sample at specified temperatures. Exceptional problem-solving skills and teamwork were demonstrated as the newly developed pieces of equipment were used for the first time to produce unique results for the commercial client. Technical challenges had to be overcome with the demonstration of CNL’s ability to perform biaxial burst and stress relaxation tests on irradiated fuel cladding. This technology supports future growth of CNL’s business in the LWR area.

Distinguished Merit Award: Active Storage Tank Removal

Active Storage Tank Removal Team For the teamwork on the Active Storage Tank Removal. The Active Storage Tank in one of the aging laboratories on the CRL site was successfully removed by the team on November 26, 2022. This achievement was the culmination of two and a half years of planning that involved scoping, characterization and the execution of several work plans. The field work to remove the tank began in the fall of 2020, when the team built a mock-up of the tank and trained to gather images and samples of the contents of the tank. The team safely obtained the required images and samples in December 2020; liquid contents were discovered in the heel of the tank. Using this data, the team developed three work plans - to drain the tank of its hazardous contents, to remove the lead brick shielding surrounding the tank and to remove the tank from the building. This achievement demonstrates excellence in planning and executing high-hazard radiological work. In order to keep workers safe and reduce dose to workers, the team built a mock-up to test their methodology and equipment on prior to execution. The team also designed a remote engineered pumping system and designed and procured a specialty flask for the liquids. This approach not only increased the safety of the job, but significantly reduced the duration of the field execution which directly corresponded to much lower dose to workers. This achievement is the first time in CNL’s modern decommissioning program to complete the scoping, characterization and removal of such highly active liquid contents in a legacy tank.

Distinguished Merit Award: Safety Excellence Team

Alexandra McClelland, Ali Golbabai, Andre Gervais, Angela Coulas, Barb Schrader, Brad Wasmund, Brendan Barber, Brent Keetch, Chad Charbonneau, Cliff Lutz, Dan Arnold, Derek Campbell, Don Pardy, Don Prymak, Eric Broughton, James Harrington, Jason Costello, Jason DeRuiter, Javin DeVreede, Jeff Collin, Joanna Sullivan, Leslie Fleury, Melanie McFadden, Patricia Verch, Patrick Harrison, Rob Quittenton, Robyn Mercer, Scott Cameron, Sean Gamley, Shane Kuehl, Stephanie Clement, Ted Wieclawek, Tom Reynard and Troy Wilson For the work as part of the Safety Excellence Team at CNL. The Safety Excellence (SE) Initiative was introduced in 2021/22 to address the need for improved safety culture at CNL. The vision is based on five tenets (Empowerment, Communication, Engagement, Collaboration, and Accountability), which are aligned with CNL’s core values. A Safety Excellence Strategy and Implementation Plan was developed which includes 15 objectives with 68 actions to be completed over a four-year period. Each objective and action is based on a business need or gap as identified by CNL staff. Implementation of the strategy is led by the Safety Excellence Team (SET). Members of the SET were carefully chosen from various sites based on their leadership abilities, safety-focused thinking, and other select criteria to act as stewards of safety. Each of the SET members has exemplified true commitment to safety and to CNL by volunteering their time to implement the strategy. Fiscal year 22-23 marked the first year of implementation. Seventeen year one actions were planned and the SET demonstrated exceptional performance and surpassed expectations by completing 21 actions in FY 2022-23. Seventeen actions were completed on schedule, four future year actions were pulled forward and completed early, and some actions achieved results above and beyond their deliverables. Through the completion of these actions, the SET and CNL are realizing improvements in organizational safety culture.

Distinguished Merit Award: Tile hole drying system

Anders Barvestal, Giles Danis, Jon Sanders, Jonathan Bartley, Jonathan Fitzpatrick, Josh McLellan, Kapil Vaidya, Ken Landreau, Kris Penner, Roman Lungu, and Tibor Molnar For the design and operation of the tile hole drying system. Used nuclear fuel has been stored within storage containers placed in below grade tile holes at the CRL Waste Management Areas (WMA) since the 1960s. As part of the Fuel Packaging and Storage (FPS) project pre-retrieval field activities, one tile hole was confirmed to contain a storage container that was stuck within its storage position, and had become degraded. A Best Available Technique approach was employed to determine the method of addressing the degraded fuel and the selected method was in situ stabilisation and liquid removal. A multi-disciplinary team from the Fluids Engineering branch was assembled to develop an appropriate drying capability, taking into consideration a number of constraints, including limited access to the tile hole due to space constraints, high levels of radiological contamination, significant uranium fuel degradation and the potential for hydrogen generation. Through extensive collaboration between design teams and operations, the Tile Hole Drying System (THDS) concept was developed. The drying system consists of a closed loop argon recirculation system employing a positive displacement blower for process flow, a dehumidifier to condense and remove moisture, HEPA filters to remove any contaminants that become entrained with the carrier gas, compressed argon supply, and an oxygen tile hole through a custom interface and the system is leak checked to ensure minimal argon leakage. Electrical resistance heaters heat the argon gas prior to entering the in-ground storage structure. Maintaining this degraded tile hole in a dry state significantly reduces AECL’s legacy liability by reducing any potential environmental impacts until such a time that capabilities are available to remove entire tile hole contents. WMA Operations conducted an additional follow up fiber optic camera inspection in 2023 July and confirmed tile hole conditions have not changed and the tile hole remains dry. The THDS remains available for future deployment should any water in the tile hole be observed in the future.

Distinguished Merit Award: Launch of the Canadian Hydrogen Safety Centre

Alison Jones, Helmut Fritzsche, Ian Castillo, Kanchan Dutta, Kim Beres, Lee Gardner, Marco Bazelatto, Nirmal Gnanapragasam, Sam Suppiah, Steve McGee, and Zhe Liang For the work on the nation-wide organization of the Hydrogen Safety Workshop and launching of the Canadian Hydrogen Safety Centre.  Hydrogen is a key enabler for decarbonisation as countries pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050. As more industries and market sectors start using hydrogen and, as a result, expanding hydrogen infrastructure, there is imperative need to have a more coherent approach on hydrogen safety (i.e., robust and standard safety practices, technical solutions to the existing challenges of working with hydrogen, codes and standards for rapid hydrogen deployment). In response to that need, CNL, in collaboration with AECL, successfully hosted a Nation-wide Hydrogen Safety Workshop in Ottawa, Ontario on November 24. On November 25, 2022, a tour of the hydrogen and materials science facilities at Chalk River Laboratories was also organized. The aim of the workshop was to identify the emerging needs of the Canadian hydrogen safety landscape, as well as the key issues affecting the progress of hydrogen deployment in Canada. Furthermore, this event served to showcase CNL’s capabilities and leadership on hydrogen research and development to the hydrogen and nuclear communities. A total of 68 Canadian and international attendees, including technology developers, industry associations, government officials, regulatory agencies, national laboratories, universities, and service providers, participated in the workshop. The event was described by the attendees as impactful as a venue to consolidate all relevant Canadian stakeholders to initiate a much needed discussion for the country. The key insights from the workshop across issues, capabilities, gaps, and actions were documented in a consolidated report that was then distributed to the participants after the workshop. From the findings of the workshop, the concept of the Canadian Hydrogen Safety Centre was created. The Centre concept was launched at the Hydrogen Convention held in Edmonton in April 2023. The purpose of the Canadian Hydrogen Safety Centre (CH₂SC) is to help industries that are new to hydrogen with a safe adoption of hydrogen as a fuel, as an energy carrier, and as a feedstock, through development of tangible safety solutions. The solution development is aimed at a new hydrogen industry that is growing up beyond the traditional and proprietary boundaries of the current hydrogen industry – the gas producers and handlers. This will help with wider adoption of hydrogen in as many industries as possible, and in time, the expectation is that the established hydrogen industry will also participate.

Distinguished Merit Award: Fuel Channel Life Management

Alex Reavie, Dylan Broad, James Slattery, Joe Bida, Joe Chartrand, Kyle Baker, Kyle Breen, Lance Broome, Larkin Mosscrop, Scott Holyomes, Serge Bertrand, Sterling St. Lawrence, Todd Gale, and Zia Haque For the work on the irradiated pressure tube burst tests for the CANDU Owners Group (COG) Fuel Channel Life Management. CANDU pressure tubes ingress hydrogen and deuterium during service through corrosion from the heavy water coolant and at the ends of the pressure tubes through the Rolled Joints. Hydrogen content in pressure tubes build over time and can impact material properties, especially fracture toughness. As many of the current operating domestic reactors were approaching their initial design life, about 10 years ago the CANDU industry initiated a major research and development program known as the Fuel Channel Life Management (FCLM) through the Candu Owners Group (COG). The FCLM program has allowed the utilities to develop a solid technical basis to regain operating safety margins in aging reactors and to extend the number of years of continued operation until refurbishment. One of the core areas of research within the FCLM is fracture toughness of pressure tubes at late-in-life conditions. In order to demonstrate pressure tube integrity at high hydrogen concentrations, many burst tests of irradiated pressure tube sections have been performed at CNL through the various phases of FCLM. These high value experiments have provided critical data that had direct impact on the operations of the domestic CANDU reactors, and the favorable experimental results have allowed regulator confidence in continued operation.

Distinguished Merit Award: Cyber Security

Alex Amos, Anna Shi, Dave Trask, and Richard Brown For developing and hosting cyber security incident response exercises. In 2018, CNL declared cyber security as a strategic research initiative within S&T, to address emergent threats to the security of digital instrumentation and controls systems that are critical for the safe operation of nuclear power plants and other constituents of current and future energy infrastructure. This was timely as cyber security requirements were issued by CSA (formerly Canadian Standards Association) in late 2014, and became a licensing condition for nuclear facilities in Canada. The strategic initiative enables CNL to focus resources in this area to advance the security capabilities of facilities and other critical infrastructure, and thereby the security of Canadians. The cyber security incident response project is a key research area that is being executed as part of the strategic initiative, and responds to the need for facilities to demonstrate an effective response capability to cyber events. The research, which has culminated in four exercises being held, has resulted in new knowledge and capabilities that have contributed significant practical improvements in incident response that has been shared not only with Canadian nuclear power plants, but international facilities and government organizations. The work has informed standards and regulation, it has established CNL as a leader in cyber security incident response thus improving the safety and security of Canadians, it has strengthened relationships with numerous national and international industry partners as listed above, and it opens up commercial opportunities in both nuclear and non-nuclear industries – all of these are performance goals that are consistent with CNL’s mission.

Distinguished Merit Award: Multiscale materials modelling

Andrew Prudil, Blair Bromley, Catalina Anghel, Chris Maxwell, Cong Dai, Edmanuel Torres, Ibrahim Cheik Njifon, Karen Colins, Michael Welland, and Thaneshwor Kaloni For developing expertise in multiscale materials modelling. From 2016 to 2022, project members brought their unique expertise together to develop a comprehensive suite of mechanistic models of fuel and cladding behaviour. This work contributes to the international effort of accelerating the design and qualification cycle of advanced / Small Modular Reactors (SMR) using modern computational material science techniques to interpret and guide experimental campaigns and extend the range of applicability of fuel performance predictions. This project advanced many aspects of the Multiscale Modelling paradigm, an established framework within the computational materials science communities due to its robust predictive capabilities. This approach tailors modelling techniques to phenomena of interest according to spatio-temporal scale, with overlap to pass information. The move to mechanistic, multiscale materials models has been widely adopted by the international nuclear community, a fact this project has leveraged through supporting participation in several collaborations facilitated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD NEA) and peer institutions. Besides establishing CNL as a leader in the field of multiscale fuel modelling, many of the tools developed are transferrable to other materials. As this project supported staff’s enthusiasm and scientific interests, staff massively exceeded the planned deliverables. While 14 journal articles were planned, 45 articles were supported with a further 30 conference presentations.

Distinguished Merit Award: MCR chemical decontamination

Arshad Toor, Chris Sanzo, Chris Stewart, Christine Le Ber, Daniel Arnold, Jaleh Semmler, Jody Lynn Tessier, Lori Walters, Louise Newton, and Zahid Khan For the work on the Bruce Unit 3 MCR chemical decontamination.  In order to reduce the overall worker dose during a reactor component replacement, CNL’s customer decided to conduct a sub-system primary side decontamination. CNL staff members in Advanced Reactor Materials and Chemistry Branch were sub-contracted to conduct tests to qualify the CAN-DEREM™ process (developed at CNL) decontamination. This was the first CANDU® decontamination in the last 20 years and the choice of the CAN-DEREM™ process over processes offered by competitors highlights CNL’s expertise in decontamination technologies. Preparation for series of tests started in November 2021. Decontamination tests using inlet and outlet feeder pipes specimens were performed using CNL’s state-of-the-art Research Decontamination (RD) test loop. Tests qualifying the process for application were successfully completed in May 2022. The customer was very appreciative with CNL’s dedication, capability, and innovative solutions to a number of technical issues such as reagent injection, reducing oxygen concentration in the loop and development of novel analytical procedures.

Distinguished Merit Award: Clean up criteria change

Bill Daly, Jennifer Turner, Kathy Ackland, Mitch Conan, Paul Northey, Sandra Faught, and Steve Morris For the work on the arsenic criteria change in the Port Hope Area Initiative Community Report. The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) Arsenic – Impacted Legacy Waste Remediation – Community Report (2023/07/25) is the public facing document for the recommendation of a new cleanup standard for arsenic in soil that can be utilized by the PHAI for the remediation of legacy waste. The change of clean-up criteria for arsenic in the PHAI project would result in more trees and wildlife being protected within the project area while simultaneously protecting the soil health of the project area due to less soil being taken to storage and less trees being taken down. This clean-up criteria change involved developing a Port Hope-specific arsenic clean-up value using federal guidance while ensuring that a human health and ecological risk assessment were carried out.

Distinguished Merit Award: Conventional New Builds delivery

Al Levoy, Anne-Marie Darowny, Darroch Elliott, Deanna Shields, Derek Campbell, Eben Hamilton, Emma Etmanskie, Gail Adams, Hilary Avery, Jaclyn Cummins, Janice de Hann, Jeff Strack, Kaitlin McMillan, Karey Leach, Kathy Barnett, Kelly Fawcett, Kristen Campbell, Mark Bruce, Mark Lamarche, Matt Weiss, Paul Rabishaw, Phil Colwill, Robyn Mercer, Steve Innes, and Tim Zadow For the work on the Conventional New Builds (CNB) projects.  The Conventional New Builds (CNB) Project team has safely and successfully delivered on its commitments to construct three beautiful mass timber buildings for CNL and did so, right through the pandemic. The three project buildings, the Minwamon Building, the Support Facility, and the Science Collaboration Centre (SCC), provide world-class facilities for CNL’s scientists, researchers, and technical support staff as they advance CNL’s strategic mission and tackle some of the world’s toughest technological challenges. These buildings replace dated buildings which then can be turned over to Facilities Decommissioning for the reduction of the liability. The facilities also help drive the message of “revitalization” of the Chalk River Campus and demonstrate how CNL can work together effectively managing this large portfolio of work. The ability of the team to continually solve challenges with delivery of these three new buildings, while continuing to maintain stakeholder satisfaction and ensure the final product is something CNL can be proud of, is attributed to a dedicated team that continually goes above and beyond, stepping out of traditional role boundaries to ensure the success of the project. This was brought to the forefront during the pandemic. The team has continually worked to meet any challenge head on, and provide solutions to issues time and time again.

Distinguished Merit Award: Lead for the ERM Program Management Office

Oana Lungu For the work as Mission Lead for the ERM Program Management Office (PMO).  Oana is a key asset to the Program Management Office. She has an exceptional skill set to build integrations between systems to allow for automation and is always improving daily processes, such as building tools (macros) for the Environmental Remediation Management (ERM) mission to make their job easier. Her work saves hundreds of hours for both the PMO and all project control coordinators across all mission areas annually.

Distinguished Merit Award: AOPFN Long Term Relationship Agreement

Mitch MacKay, Noelle Dykman and Pat Quinn For the engagement of Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation regarding the negotiation and signing of the landmark Long Term Relationship Agreement. This core team achieved a relationship agreement with Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation. They demonstrated many values of CNL, including respect, integrity, teamwork and excellence, in doing so. Their achievement has huge implications for CNL, including furthering its goal of licensing the NSDF and creating a real platform for CNL to demonstrate its ability to listen to First Nations neighbouring communities and incorporate Indigenous feedback and guidance into its projects at CRL.

Distinguished Merit Award: Examination of light water reactor (LWR) Fuel

Dan Cadieux, Dan McDonald, Dave Trudell, David Dean, Gaige Moore, Gary Shultz, Guy Leblond, Ike Dimayuga, Jeff Armstrong, Kevin Rochon, Mark Sequin, Michael Gharghouri, Nathan Lee, Nick Simpson, Noel Harrison, Scott Read, Sherry Laroche, Stavros Corbett, Sterling St. Lawrence, Tijmen Van Lindenberg, Tyler Chaput, and Zia Haque For the work on the post-irradiation examination of light water reactor (LWR) fuel.  The team successfully developed capabilities, applied high quality standards, and delivered Light Water Reactor (LWR) Fuel Post Irradiation Examination and Testing services for an international commercial customer. This was a multi-year effort to deliver a commercial contract that commenced in 2018, continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and finished testing in 2023. This work is the first time CNL delivers post-irradiation examination (PIE) of fuel services to the LWR industry in more than 30 years. This is a key area of future business for CNL as evidenced by the Advanced Nuclear Materials Research Centre hot cell design which explicitly addresses examination of LWR fuel. These capabilities support the nuclear industry in North America and support the effort to restore the environment by the reduction of green-house gases around the world. The team persisted through multiple challenges with the firm belief that building and demonstrating CNL’s LWR fuel PIE capabilities are key for the future of CNL as a national lab.

Distinguished Merit Award: Nuclear education and outreach activities

Alison Jones, Belinda Samson, Bernadette Beebe, Dylan Verburg, Gabrielle Psotka, Jennifer Gardner, Julie Ryan, Larkin Mosscrop, Marisa Breeze, Philip Kompass, and Shane Matte For the work in leading nuclear education and outreach.  CNL has been working to increase the volume and engagement of communications about our science and technology programs. The Corporate Communications team responded to this challenge, and coming out of the COVID pandemic, delivered an unprecedented level of programming intended to engage a wide variety of stakeholders, notably including students and youth. New initiatives were introduced, and existing programming was revitalized and renewed, all with the intention of building CNL’s brand and reputation as a leader in Canadian nuclear science and technology.

Distinguished Merit Award: Secured radiopharmaceutical supplier

Ashley Gale, Brian Bimm, Chris Lee, Damir Azimov, Farihah Gulam, and Pratap Benegal For the work with CNL Quality to obtain an agreement with a radiopharmaceutical supplier.  In 2021, the CNL Quality Assurance team, under the leadership of Pharmaceutical Quality Manager, Damir Azimov, developed and implemented a new process for qualifying suppliers based on Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). This approach involves evaluating pharmaceutical suppliers using Health Canada Audits and the supplier's Drug Establishment License.

Distinguished Merit Award: Focus on Four

Alison Gareau, Jody Luckasavitch and Katie Primeau For the development and implementation of the Focus on Four within the Stewardship Renewal Group. It had been identified (through recent events, observations and general staff feedback) that CNL’s work planning and execution-related management systems currently lack an emphasis on the importance of the use of worker-centric tools such as human performance tools. Although documentation exists in our management system, observation and feedback suggests that Event-Free Tools (EFT) or human performance tools in general are not discussed, reinforced or trained on consistently. Therefore, a Focus on Four Training Initiative was initiated by the Stewardship Renewal Group (SRG) – led by the Process Improvement team within Decommissioning & Environmental Remediation’s Focus on Four training CNL’s Learning management system. Four key human performance tools were chosen for the focus of this initiative. These tools were identified as particularly important to SRG missions. These include: Stop / Pause When Unsure, Self-Check, Verification, and Procedure Use & Adherence. The Focus on Four concept was created to ensure that human performance tools, a key component of our work planning and execution management system, are promoted and used by workers (in conjunction with good work packages, quality pre-job briefs, qualified workers, etc.) as a final defense in preventing an error. Although training is an important element of this initiative, the goal is not solely to perform a training blitz and increase knowledge and awareness of key human performance tools. Rather, it is to cultivate a series of behaviors to produce repeatable outcomes and promote a culture that supports situational awareness and a questioning attitude.

Distinguished Merit Award: HEPro Chemistry Corrosion Monitoring

Craig Stuart, Guy Leblond, Jacqueline Parco, Kate Davison, Mark Bernans, Mike Horne, Rob Steele, Stanley Okonji, Stephen Cudmore, and Steven McGee For the work on the development / deployment of the HEPro Chemistry Corrosion Monitoring Service.  CNL, supported by partnering organization, the University of New Brunswick - Centre for Nuclear Energy Research (UNB-CNER) and subcontractor, Research & Productivity Council (RPC), has successfully developed and deployed a commercial-grade Hydrogen Effusion Probe (HEPro) to provide a corrosion monitoring service. Part of CNL’s mission is to leverage all of our capabilities for commercial success in Canadian and international markets. Upon recognizing the immediate value of a near real time corrosion monitoring service to the CANDU® fleet and the potential to service industries beyond CANDU, CNL invested Laboratory Directed Science & Technology funds to engineer and fabricate two commercial grade HEPro cabinets in order to be ready for the anticipated demand. This investment enabled CNL to be prepared to deliver the service for the customer, on short notice, when the request came.

Distinguished Merit Award: Learning Management System implementation

Tiffany Orpana, Carly Ritcey, Jacquelyn Purdy, Kristin Morris, and Nicole Deighton For the implementation of the Learning Management System.  Through unwavering dedication and commitment to ensuring continuation of access to training records for all CNL employees, representatives from the Training department led the rapid procurement and configuration of a new Learning Management System (LMS) due to software compatibility issues that rendered CNL’s legacy LMS to become obsolete. Through their dedication, hard work, long hours and willingness to go above and beyond their scope of work, the team has been instrumental in the success of acquiring, configuring and launching the initial phase of the new LMS. Without their efforts, CNL would have experienced a significant gap in accessing training records, putting employees, commercial projects and the company at risk.

Distinguished Merit Award: Eye lens dosimetry

Fawaz Ali, Jason Sun, Neil Leroux, and Victor Golovko For the work on the eye lens dosimetry research and associated program. The program was implemented by CNL’s Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) team as a solution based on S&T research results, making use of existing technology available at CNL, and modifying it for the development of the eye lens dosimetry program. This ingenious decision negated the need for procurement and implementation of new technology, thereby saving CNL an estimated $400,000. This work also helped to get additional research funding from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and CANDU Owners Group (COG). The significance and value of this work go well beyond CNL; it is beneficial to all Canadians and the international scientific community.

Distinguished Merit Award: Use of Power BI in radiation protection

Luc Chartrand For the use of Power BI to create an innovative and advanced approach to radiation protection management.  Dose management for a project presented challenges resulting from a condensed work schedule, lower action levels, and a limited number of qualified staff to perform the work while also completing other unrelated tasks. Traditional methods of data management used by the Radiation Protection department proved insufficient for the project. When a more comprehensive and advanced method for tracking worker dose was requested, the nominee proposed using Power BI. This data visualization software offers an advanced reporting format which he configured to track all workers against their assigned Dose Control Points (DCPs) and CRL’s Action Levels by incorporation of data from at least two different databases. Altogether, the reports developed by the nominee offer a novel and extremely efficient use of data that has greatly improved management of work from a Radiation Protection perspective. The combination of reports into a Health Physics or Radiation Protection dashboard brings the department in line with the sophisticated data management techniques of departments such as the Project Management Office.

Distinguished Merit Award: Leased Building Closure Projects

Bob Stephenson, Bradley Bennett, Daniella Bouchard, Hilary Avery, Jennifer Breen, Joe Lacroix, Kayla Miller, Kyle Hickey, Megan Diamond, Monique Godin, Randy Cochrane, Scott Tubman, and Tom Reynard For the leased building closure projects of Morison, Keys, Core Shed / Library, 107 trailer, and 464 trailer.  A corporate decision was made to surrender the leases of three buildings in Deep River and two trailers on the CRL site and the Integrated Services Team was tasked with executing the activities required to vacate these buildings. All of the leases expired in 2022, representing a lot of effort by many groups in a relatively short period of time while also maintaining regular operational duties. The result of these projects for CNL is a sustained cost savings in terms of lease and operating costs for these facilities. Lastly, reducing the footprint in Deep River to consolidate staff on the Chalk River site aligns with the Vision 2030 plan of modernization and revitalization of the CRL campus.