An environmental risk assessment to support the refurbishment of a nuclear reactor

A detailed aquatic assessment

One focus of the project is ongoing fieldwork to deliver a detailed aquatic assessment. With the client moving from a shoreline intake to a deep-water intake for cooling water to limit the impact on fish communities, Joe Tetreault, our Associate Director of Environmental Monitoring and Technology, Senior Aquatic Biologist, and his team are tasked with collecting data on the existing conditions for the aquatic environment near the proposed intake location, as well as any areas that may be impacted with materials from construction.

“It’s a multi-seasonal approach starting in 2024, with samples collected in April, May, July, August, September, October and November,” he says. “We’ve analyzed macrozooplankton, benthic invertebrates, lots of water quality, sediment quality, and fish community and tissue assessments.”

Thanks to Ecometrix owning its own boat, there’s been no barrier to conducting the assessment. “A large number of our biologists are trained as boat captains, so they’re not only out there working but driving the boat,” Joe says. He shares how the vessel is also outfitted from a safety perspective and is equipped with tools to lift heavy sampling equipment from the bottom of the lake and to conduct work at night when required.

Another key and important part of this analysis addresses the concerns of local Indigenous and First Nations communities. This assessment helps have up to date data on existing conditions.

Turning insights into action

After Joe and his team have collected the data, it will be used by Rina Parker, our Director of Nuclear Services, and her team to determine any potential risk and put together the predictive environmental risk assessment report for the client and to meet regulatory requirements.

“We’re assessing a project that is in the early planning process” Rina explains. “We don’t have a lot of information, but we still need to help our client meet their regulatory obligations.

“To tackle that, one of the main things we’ve been doing throughout the course of the project is having frequent meetings with the client to go through all our questions. We meet with different subject matter experts to have conversations about what they plan to do so we can fully understand potential impacts to the environment. It’s that constant communication that helps us continue to define this project and provide comfort that our assessment is sufficiently conservative.”

An integrated approach

Thanks to an integrated approach, Ecometrix can ensure the client has holistic, detailed, and thorough insight into the potential environmental impacts alongside accurate predictions about its future state.

“At Ecometrix, we have expertise in the assessment of aquatic effects and risk assessment, which could include pathways analysis, thermal effects assessments, and impingement and entrainment assessments.” Rina says. “We bring in the right experts to assess those effects to tie the whole story together and ensure we’re making the right conclusions and giving the right advice. Our client will use our recommendations for future monitoring programs to demonstrate long-term safety to human health and the environment.”

Joe adds, “Things are ever evolving, so there’s constant communication and discussion with the client on the activities they’re going to conduct. There’s also the integrated approach between our teams, trying to get suitable data that Rina and her team can use for the predictive environmental risk assessment.”

Once complete, this work will help inform environmental monitoring needs into the future, with the refurbishment allowing the station to continue operating safely and efficiently for another 30 years.