Bond for densometers dropped by nuclear commission
March 17, 2015
By CCE
ACEC's lobbying could save consulting engineering industry millions
ACEC-Canada has succeeded in its bid to have the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) change its mind over a proposed levy that could have cost the consulting engineering industry as a whole $14 million.
The CNSC had been proposing that companies licensed to own a nuclear densometer would have to post a financial bond of $10,000 plus $3,000 for each unit.
Consulting engineering companies use portable nuclear densometers for compacting testing.
The bond was to cover the government in the eventuality that a company might go bankrupt and the government would be left with the cost of disposing of the nuclear device and the clean-up.
Joining forces with the Canadian Council of Independent Laboratories (CCIL), ACEC lobbied against the proposed bond requirements, arguing “such a large financial commitment was disproportionate to the perceived risk and commercially unrealistic.”
As a result CNSC has reconsidered and is now going to obtain its own insurance to cover the risk. It will charge the licensees for the premium, but that cost is estimated to be only $13 per densometer.
To read the ACEC press release, click here.
