Save the Date: September 9, 2025

An Overview of Chalk River Laboratories’ Experience in Addressing Legacy Site Liability

Seminar hosted by RemPlex 

The Chalk River Laboratories site, located in Chalk River, Ontario (Canada), includes several complex legacy landfills that present significant challenges for environmental characterization and remediation. These sites, impacted by historical nuclear and non-nuclear waste disposal practices, require integrated, science-based approaches involving radiological and conventional contaminant assessment, geotechnical investigation, excess soil management, and risk-informed decision-making. Characterization strategies are designed to support regulatory compliance, long-term site stewardship, and alignment with evolving environmental protection standards.

This seminar will provide insight into:

• The evolution of internal programs and processes that integrate environmental considerations across decommissioning and site revitalization activities;
• The assessment and management of conventional contaminants using environmental site assessment tools, human health and ecological risk frameworks, and remediation planning;
• The development and application of site / media specific scaling factors to estimate difficult-to-measure radionuclides from easy-to-measure isotopes—an approach adapted for the complexities of legacy environmental contamination.  This data can then be used estimate the radiological contaminants of concern within a site, informing risk assessment and remediation planning; and
• The benefits as well as the practical and regulatory challenges of adopting non-nuclear regulations to manage excess soil on an active nuclear site. The Soil Management Process was introduced last year and provides a flexible framework for a variety of projects and jobs to implement sustainable and practical solutions to reduce, reuse, and divert excess soil from waste streams.  This can help keep project schedules on track and eliminate unexpected costs.

This seminar offers a technical overview of current methodologies, lessons learned, and ongoing efforts to address environmental liability at legacy waste management areas within a regulated nuclear environment.

Short version on for eblasts and seminar landing page

The Chalk River Laboratories site, located in Chalk River, Ontario (Canada), includes several complex legacy landfills that present significant challenges for environmental characterization and remediation. These sites, impacted by historical nuclear and non-nuclear waste disposal practices, require integrated, science-based approaches involving radiological and conventional contaminant assessment, geotechnical investigation, excess soil management, and risk-informed decision-making. Characterization strategies are designed to support regulatory compliance, long-term site stewardship, and alignment with evolving environmental protection standards. This seminar offers a technical overview of current methodologies, lessons learned, and ongoing efforts to address environmental liability at legacy waste management areas within a regulated nuclear environment.

Seminar presenters

Topic 1 – Lucia Valente

Topic 2 – Ariel Nunez Garcia

Topic 3 – Stephanie Thomson

Topic 4 – Sonja Lindberg[PM1] [SK2] 

Seminar facilitators

• Nik Qafoku, PNNL
• David Yuke, CNL

Presenter information

To be provided