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    Chalk River Laboratories (CNL) is a Canadian nuclear research facility in Deep River near Chalk River, about 110 mi north-west of Ottawa. The CNL Chalk River site is a federal site that is contaminated with waste that was generated over decades of research and development. In 2014, the CNL was given control over operations at the Chalk River site by the government. 
    CNL has been working on getting official approval for a “near surface disposal facility for the disposal of solid, low-level radioactive waste” to be located near the laboratory at Deep River, Ontario. Originally in 2017, CNL wanted to include a small percentage of intermediate-level waste but, yielding to critics, that part of the project has been eliminated. Sandra Fraught is with the CNL. She says that the intended “inventory is now only low-level radioactive waste.”
   The new plan calls for remains of decommissioned buildings on the campus of the Chalk River campus to be taken to their new disposal site. In addition, contaminated soil from the CNL site as well as a small amount of low-level nuclear waste from other sites can be disposed of there.   
    The CNL is part of a consortium that includes SNC Lavalin which is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services in various industries including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, and clean power. The consortium must obtain environmental approvals and meet the licensing requirements before they can begin the construction of their new waste disposal facility. If the necessary requirements are met, the facility may be open by 2021.
    Critics have attacked the planned facility as a nuclear waste “dump. They are concerned that it might eventually leach into the Ottawa River which is just three quarters of a mile from the propose site for the facility. Gordon Edwards is the president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. He said in a press release, “Radioactive wastes should never be abandoned right beside major water bodies.” 
     In response, Fraught saaid "We have now gone downstream to ensure that there would be no effects on the Ottawa River as a result of the project. By expanding the regional study area, we've included a greater portion of the Ottawa River.” She says that the CNL plans has been expanded to include modelling and monitoring of an five mile section of the Ottawa River downstream from the proposed facility.
   Ole Hendrickson is a former government research scientist and researcher for the group Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area. He states that even with the recent revisions to the CNL plan, their proposed waste disposal facility does not comply with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines for handling radioactive waste. Canadian law does not mandate that CNL adhere to the IAEA guidelines. He said, “So if the government itself, which is responsible for policy, does not have a policy that says it will meet international standards, that basically leaves Canadian nuclear laboratories free to do whatever they want. The federal government is the owner of the waste, not Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. It's responsible for safe disposal, and it has simply abdicated its responsibility by handing over it to this consortium.”