Common menu bar links

Backgrounder

BG–04.011 - April 20, 2004

The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Research & Technology Initiative (CRTI) is the Canadian Science and Technology community’s contribution to national security with respect to CBRN terrorist threat. CRTI projects will result in increased protection, detection and decontamination capabilities to improve the safety and security of Canadians.
Potential threats from terrorism have created the need for response teams across the country that are able to respond rapidly with radiological nuclear expertise, particularly for incidents involving radiological dispersion devices – the so-called “dirty bombs”.
Consequently, the radiological nuclear group within CRTI is filling these gaps in the ability to provide timely response by providing sophisticated and dedicated detection equipment at multiple locations across Canada. This expansion of its current complement of equipment and trained personnel ensures the timely provision of essential technical information to decision-makers, regardless of where an incident takes place.
The acquisition of mobile field sampling and analytical tools is necessary to establish cross-Canada technical response capabilities to a radiological nuclear incident, on land or in water. The following equipment has been acquired:

Four Mobile Nuclear Laboratories, to be stored in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Each lab comprises a van equipped with a suite of state-of-the-art data acquisition, analysis, and communication equipment that will allow scientific teams to identify the nature and extent of radiological contamination at the site of an incident and predict the future dispersal pattern of contamination.
The equipment configuration will be standardized to facilitate common training and operating procedures within the Cluster.
Two vans are required to provide mobility for Preliminary Emergency Response Unit teams in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These teams are being established across Canada under the Federal Nuclear Emergency Program.
Calibration equipment for beta-ray detectors and a reference instrument to improve the accuracy of field measurement capabilities.
Water sampling and radio-analytical detection equipment, including ion exchange equipment, gamma-ray spectroscopy, and beta GM multi-counter system.

Under the cost-sharing funding formula of the CRTI, $1.5 million was allocated for the acquisition of equipment and services while $1.1 million will be provided for the associated maintenance and operations cost incurred by the participating departments of the Radiological-Nuclear Laboratory group under CRTI.
The four labs and two vans will be used in emergency preparedness activities, monitoring, and R&D initiatives when they are not required for emergency situations. Some examples of non-emergency uses include:

Response training for technical field personnel;
Awareness training for first responders;
Participation in CRTI, FNEP, and other radiological nuclear emergency response exercises;
Support for data acquisition and analysis for on-going projects in radiation biology, land-mine detector calibration, high-altitude radiation studies, and health physics measurements, and source calibration;
On-site inspections at nuclear facilities; and
Quality assurance activities and instrument calibration.

The labs will be located in Vancouver, at the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s Whiteshell Laboratory near Pinawa, MB, at Defence R&D Canada – Ottawa, and in Halifax with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Canada is recognized internationally for its expertise in S&T for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear protection and defence. CRTI is an interdepartmental, $170M, five-year initiative to enhance Canada’s capacity to deal with potential chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats to public security. The investment is part of the Government’s comprehensive $7.7B security package announced in Budget 2001 in response to the attacks in the United States last fall.
Participating departments and agencies have joined CRTI because their specific mandates and expertise are key to the overall safety and security of Canadians. The departments and agencies participating in CRTI are: Defence R&D Canada, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, Health Canada, Environment Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the National Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
CRTI is lead by Defence R&D Canada .

CRTI Secretariat
Defence R&D Canada
(613) 995-8008

April 1, 2004