Product and Material Stewardship

Ensuring the safe use of our products – This is easy to assure in places where we’ve been doing business for a long time, but more challenging in dealing with emerging markets where we must rely more on due diligence and bilateral agreements.

Our products are packaged and handled in order to ensure safety – Like others in our industry, we have an exceptional record on transportation safety. It’s not, however, something we take for granted. Uranium concentrate can be dangerous if inhaled and uranium hexafluoride produces a brief chemical reaction if it’s exposed to the air. Proper packaging and safe transport are essential.

National and international government regulation and treaties – uranium is a highly regulated, controlled material. International trade is the responsibility of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD), including nuclear co-operation and safety. The department promotes the peaceful and safe use of nuclear technologies and ensures compliance with international commitments, like the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. It also helps develop international law and guidance, including conventions established under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

We need a CNSC-issued export licence and an export permit from the Exports-Controls Division of DFATD to ship our products. As a condition of our export licences and permits, each step in the fulfillment process must be carefully documented, including conversion, fabrication, shipping and delivery, and details about the source of the uranium must also be included. We’re also required to disclose certain details about our contracts and deliveries with the CNSC, and our records are closely monitored and regularly reconciled.

Internal and external policies and procedures – export licences and permit applications must identify the nuclear items Cameco is proposing to export, the country of origin, destination and end use for the material we are proposing to export. Our government notifies the receiving government, and both make sure the proposed export is consistent with the terms of the bilateral or multilateral nuclear cooperation agreement in force before a licence or permit is issued. We also maintain a Nuclear Technology Export and Import Controls Compliance program and a policy related to shipping uranium-bearing materials in drums. This program, which applies to all employees, directors, officers and representatives of Cameco, ensures compliance with international non-proliferation obligations and export and import control laws.

Established, long-term customer relationships – all of our material is delivered to customers and facilities in accordance with the nuclear cooperation agreements in place with each respective country. We have long-established relationships with these customers and know them to be safe, reliable, compliant operators. Any new customers that would like to do business with us are subject to a rigorous due diligence process to ensure they are legitimate and that the material they want to purchase from us will be used only for peaceful purposes.

Nuclear co-operation agreements – in all our markets we rely on bilateral nuclear co-operation agreements. India has not signed the non-proliferation treaty, but its civilian generation facilities are owned by the Indian government and are subject to IAEA audits. Some Chinese reactors are already on the IAEA safeguarded reactors list, giving the IAEA the same authority to inspect and audit that they would have at a western facility. Reactors that are not yet on the safeguarded list are verified through bilateral agreements between our governments. The mutual assurances in these agreements are particularly important because China has some dual-use civilian/military facilities.

More about trade with China and India

Warranties in contracts – Cameco’s contracts include a warranty that stipulates the material delivered will “only be used for peaceful non-explosive purposes and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

Packaging and labelling – the IAEA transport regulations establish standards of safety which provide an acceptable level of control of the radiation, criticality and thermal hazards to persons, property and the environment. In general, the transport regulations aim to provide a uniform level of safety that is commensurate with the inherent hazard presented by the radioactive material being transported. The regulations are based on a graded approach which considers the hazard of the material and establishes safety features which are built into the design of the package. Similar to other dangerous goods, shipping documents, markings, labels and placards are required to convey information about the material being transported and the hazard it represents.

Class seven (radioactive material) is also subject to strict standards for packaging. For example, packages used for shipping uranium hexafluoride are subject to drop, fire, extreme temperature and other “stress” tests. The goal is to make sure there is as little risk of failure as reasonably possible when the packages are used and handled as designed.

Transportation safety and emergency preparedness – we have corporate standards for securing drums and packages during shipping, and how to package, label and prepare shipping documents. These conform to national and international regulatory requirements. We also have strict quality standards for the carriers we use, so that our containers are securely locked into place and can’t shift while they’re being transported. Our employees and carriers are trained and prepared to handle accidents and emergencies. You can read about emergency preparedness in the Public safety section of this report.

More about transporting our goods safely