Canadian nuclear regulators have issued a site preparation licence for proposed new reactors at the Darlington site in Ontario. It is the first such licence to be issued in Canada in a quarter of a century.
The nuclear site preparation licence issued to Onatrio Power Generation will be valid for ten years, from 17 August 2012 to 17 August 2022. The licence means that pre-construction activities such as clearing, excavating and grading the land adjacent to the company’s existing four-unit Darlington station can begin.
The decision to issue a nuclear site preparation licence was made by a joint review panel of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, specially convened in 2009 to consider the environmental assessment and site preparation licence for the project. Earlier this year, the Canadian government formally accepted the panel’s report and recommendations on the clearing the way for the issuance of the site preparation licence.