Nuclear energy - an important
part of Canada's energy mix
Nuclear Facts
Why so safe?
We work in close cooperation with other industries and governments and we learn from every incident.
Transportation of radioactive shipments is monitored internationally by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Federal regulators include the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Transport Canada. Provincially, we work with various departments and agencies.
Canadians also work with the World Nuclear Transport Institute, the International Maritime Association and the International Air Transport Association to facilitate and monitor these shipments and to continually improve packaging, procedures and training.
Transport of Radioactive Materials: Every Movement, Every Day
Every day, Canadians working in nuclear ship thousands of packages of
radioactive material – many of them across the world. In five decades, there has been no transportation incident with significant
radiological damage to people or the environment.
Many materials are radioactive,
including much naturally occurring
rock and soil. Most of the radiation
to which Canadians are exposed
comes from natural sources including
sunlight, and most of the remainder
comes from medical uses.
Radioactive shipments include medical isotopes, some smoke detectors,
gauges and instruments, nuclear reactor fuel, uranium, and cobalt for
Of more than 1,000 emergency
calls received in 2009 by Transport
Canada relating to dangerous
goods, only five (half of one
percent) pertained to radioactive
materials. Most of the calls were
related to corrosive or flammable
Learn More:
World Nuclear Transport Institute: www.wnti.co.uk (click the “safe transport” video)
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: http://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/about/regulated/packaging
Transport Canada: http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/tdg/safety-menu.htm
International Air Transport Association: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dangerous_goods/Pages/index.aspx
International Atomic Energy Agency: http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/bottlenecks.html