Available for download below are the results of dozens of requests by CEDAR investigators for information from the federal government – Access to Information (ATI) requests – and the Government of New Brunswick – Requests for Information (RTI). To date, these records total more than 5,000 pages of information: emails, reports, slide decks, articles, briefing notes and more.
Our requests for behind-the-scenes government information began in 2022. We requested communications related to reprocessing (extracting plutonium from used nuclear fuel). A private company is planning to build a reprocessing plant at the Point Lepreau nuclear site in New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy.
The nuclear industry is making baseless claims that reprocessing used nuclear fuel will contribute to climate action. They make these claims to secure public funds that have been allocated for technologies to address the climate crisis. In fact, in a release package from Finance Canada from one of our ATI requests, a 2020 slide deck from the industry proponent of reprocessing states: “This technology can single-handedly solve climate change.”
The reprocessing project is funded by both the federal and provincial governments and supported by the provincial public utility NB Power. There is almost no information about the project available on the websites of any of these institutions.
What came back from our initial requests for information was so interesting – about plans for not only reprocessing but also developing more nuclear energy in Canada as a climate action strategy – that CEDAR submitted further requests on the same topic.
Many of the ATI and RTI responses are heavily redacted and thousands more pages were not released.
We hope these files will be useful to researchers and others working on the politics of the energy transition and particularly the politics of funding nuclear power in Canada. We’re working on academic articles with these records and so far they have also contributed to articles in The Globe and Mail and The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. We have also written many articles about the reprocessing project that are listed on our publications page.
We plan to catalogue all the responses below to make the items within each response package easier to find. We made all the documents searchable and reduced the file size as much as possible to make download easier.
Anyone interested in behind-the-scenes info should also check out the site developed by the Globe and Mail, Secret Canada. This database of government information requests contains records of thousands of requests made to federal and provincial governments as well as public agencies across Canada.
ATI requests to the Government of Canada
Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB)
Itemized list of documents obtained via ATI requests from the Canada Infrastructure bank. File updated December 2025. (file CIB-ATIP-2025-12 xlxs 11 KB HERE)
CIB 1) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received February 2023. HERE (file CIB-2023-02-08 pdf 2.2 MB • 32 pages)
CIB 2) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested December April 2024, received April 2024. No records found.
**CIB 3) Communications related to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or re-use of nuclear fuel waste received between April 2024 and April 2025. Requested May 2025, received June 2025. HERE (file CIB-2025-06-26 pdf 437 KB • 12 pages)
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)
CNSC 1) Statements issued expressing Canada’s policy with respect to the “recycling” or “reprocessing” of nuclear fuel waste. Requested December 2022, received April 2023. HERE (file CNSC-2023-04-17-100 pdf 46.6 MB • 418 pages)
CNSC 2) Statements issued between 1977 and 2022 expressing Canada’s policy with respect to nuclear weapons proliferation and security risks in relation to plutonium. Requested December 2022, received April 2023. HERE (file CNSC-2023-04-17 pdf 308 KB • 11 pages)
CNSC 3) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received August 2023. HERE (file CNSC-2023-08-30 pdf 12.6 MB • 576 pages)
CNSC 4) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024. Interim package received August 2024. HERE (file CNSC-2024-08-15-interim pdf 46.1 MB • 513 pages). Final package received November 2024 in two parts (file CNSC-2025-11-15-part 1 pdf 44.2 MB • 640 pages HERE) and (file CNSC-2015-11-15-part 2 pdf 45.7 MB • 528 pages HERE)
**CNSC 5) Communications related to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or re-use of nuclear fuel waste received between April 2024 and April 2025. Requested May 2025, received November 2025. Note: the release file was more than 1,500 pages; we separated it into four sections: (file CNSC-2025-11-18-A pdf 32.2 MB • 531 pages HERE) and (file CNSC-2025-11-18-B pdf 38 MB • 391 pages HERE) and (file CNSC-2025-11-18-C pdf 13.5 MB • 297 pages HERE) and (file CNSC-2025-11-18-D pdf 29.5 MB • 349 pages HERE)
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
ECCC 1) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received March 2024. HERE (file EEEC-2024-03-14 pdf 2.2 MB • 139 pages)
ECCC 2) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024, received September 2024. HERE (file EEEC-2024-09-16 pdf 55.2 MB • 207 pages)
Finance Canada
FIN 1) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received February 2023. HERE (file Finance-2023-05-16 pdf 16 MB • 158 pages)
FIN 2) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024, received October 2024. HERE (file FIN-2024-10-24 pdf 3.9 MB • 88 pages)
**FIN 3) Communications with respect to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or reuse of nuclear fuel waste received between April 20, 2024 and April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received November 2025. HERE (file FIN-2025-11-06 pdf 6 MB • 70 pages)
Global Affairs Canada
GAC 1) Statements issued expressing Canada’s policy with respect to the “recycling” or “reprocessing” of nuclear fuel waste. Requested December 2022, received May 2023. HERE (file GAC-2023-05-04 pdf 9.3 MB • 98 pages)
GAC 2) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received July 2024 (!). HERE (file GAC-2024-07-24 pdf 7.6 MB • 58 pages)
GAC 3) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024, received September 2024. HERE (file GAC-2024-09-25 pdf 13.5 MB • 156 pages)
**GAC 4) Communications with respect to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or reuse of nuclear fuel waste received between April 20, 2024 and April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received December 2025. HERE (file GAC-2025-12-17 pdf 2.8 MB • 43 pages)
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC)
IAAC 1) Information (including but not limited to correspondence, briefing notes, records and emails) relating to the request to designate the SMR project at Point Lepreau for an impact assessment spanning October to December 2022. Requested January 2023, released September 2023. HERE (file IAAC-2023-09-22 pdf 55.3 MB • 602 pages)
IAAC 2) Information relating to the request to designate the SMR project at Point Lepreau for an impact assessment spanning June to October 2022. Requested October 2022, released January 2023. HERE (file IAAC-2023-01-23 pdf 14.2 MB • 138 pages)
innovation, science and Economic development canada (ISED)
ISED 1) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received March 2024. HERE (file ISED 2024-03-28 pdf 8.1 MB • 111 pages)
ISED 2) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024, received March 2025. HERE (file ISED 2025-03-31 pdf 7.1 MB • 69 pages)
**ISED 3) Communications with respect to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or reuse of nuclear fuel waste received between April 20, 2024 and April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received November 2025. HERE (file ISED 2025-11-14 pdf 31.6 MB • 254 pages)
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
NRCAN 1) Public statements expressing Canada’s policy with respect to the
“recycling” or “reprocessing” of nuclear fuel waste OR nuclear weapons proliferation and security risks in relation to plutonium. Requested December 2022, received February 2023. No records found, letter HERE (file NRCan-2023-03-02 pdf 162 KB • 2 pages)
NRCAN 2) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022. Interim response received August 2023. HERE (file NRCan-2023-08-08 pdf 5.1 MB • 76 pages). Final response received December 2023. HERE (file NRCan-2023-12-01 pdf 2.6 MB • 33 pages)
NRCAN 3) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024, Received March 2025 in two parts. Part 1 HERE (file NRCan 2025-03-31-part1 pdf 49.8 MB • 935 pages). Part 2 HERE (file NRCan-2025-03-31-part2 pdf 5.6 MB • 107 pages)
Privy Council Office (PCO)
PCO 1) Statements issued expressing Canada’s policy with respect to the “recycling” or “reprocessing” of nuclear fuel waste. Requested December 2022, received February 2023. HERE (file PCO-2023-02-20 pdf 2.7 MB • 122 pages)
PCO 2) Statements issued between 1977 and 2022 expressing Canada’s policy with respect to nuclear weapons proliferation and security risks in relation to plutonium. Requested December 2022, received May 2023. HERE (file PCO-2023-05-11 pdf 29.8 MB • 98 pages)
PCO 3) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2016 and December 2022. Requested December 2022, received May 2023. HERE (file PCO-2023-05-01 pdf 43.8 MB • 803 pages)
PCO 4) Communications related to reprocessing and recycling used nuclear fuel received between January 2023 and April 2024. Requested April 2024, received September 2024. HERE (file PCO-2024-09-19 pdf 1.1 MB • 26 pages)
**PCO 5) Communications with respect to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or reuse of nuclear fuel waste received between April 20, 2024 and April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received October 2025. HERE (file PCO-2025-10-31 pdf 790 KB • 18 pages)
Transport Canada
**TC 1) Communications with respect to HALEU fuel or enriched uranium fuel or the “recycling” or “reprocessing” or reuse of nuclear fuel waste received between January 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received November 2025. HERE (file Transport-2025-11-27 pdf 12.1 MB • 102 pages)
RTI requests to New Brunswick government
Environment and Local government
NB DELG 1) Communications related recycling or reprocessing used (irradiated/spent) nuclear fuel, pyroprocessing, plutonium or plutonium extraction, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, enriched uranium or HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium). Time period January 1, 2017 to July 19, 2023. Requested July 2023, received August 2023. HERE (file DELG-2023-08-03 pdf 450 KB • 1 page)
**NB DELG 2) Communications related to recycling or reprocessing used (irradiated/spent) nuclear fuel, pyroprocessing, plutonium or plutonium extraction, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, enriched uranium or HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium). Time period July 20, 2023 to April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received May 2025. HERE (file DELG-2025-05-05 pdf 2.4 MB • 30 pages)
Natural Resources and Energy Development
NB NRED 1) Communications related to nuclear energy in which any of the following topics are mentioned: recycling or reprocessing used (irradiated/spent) nuclear fuel, pyroprocessing, plutonium or plutonium extraction, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, enriched uranium or HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium). Time period January 2017 to June 19, 2023. Requested July 2023, received August 2023. HERE (file NRED-2023-08-30 pdf 11.6 MB • 82 pages)
**NB NRED 2) Communications related to recycling or reprocessing used (irradiated/spent) nuclear fuel, pyroprocessing, plutonium or plutonium extraction, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, enriched uranium or
HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium). Time period July 20, 2023 to April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received July 2025. HERE (file NRED-2025-07-14 pdf 1.1 MB • 37 pages)
NB Power
NB POWER 1) Communications related to recycling or reprocessing used (irradiated/spent) nuclear fuel, pyroprocessing, plutonium or plutonium extraction, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, enriched uranium or HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium). Time period January 1, 2017 to July 19, 2023. Requested July 2023, received November 2023. HERE (file NBPower-2023-11-14 pdf 19.2 MB • 505 pages)
**NB POWER 2) Communications related to recycling or reprocessing used (irradiated/spent) nuclear fuel, pyroprocessing, plutonium or plutonium extraction, nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, enriched uranium or HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium). Time period July 20, 2023 to April 30, 2025. Requested May 2025, received June 2025. HERE (file NBPower-2025-06-30 pdf 7.3 MB • 96 pages)