Cogema Resources said that it would appeal against a ruling by a Canadian federal court revoking the company’s licence to operate the McClean Lake uranium ore processing plant.
The licence, which was issued to Cogema Resources in 1999 and renewed for four years in 2001, had been revoked following a complaint filed by an environmental group known as the Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Cooperative (ICUCEC). The complaint was made against the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Cogema Resources.
The ICUCEC had been seeking to have the licence quashed on the basis that a repetition of the environmental assessment was required before the licence was issued. Cogema Resources said that the ICUCEC had not criticised the actual performance of the McClean Lake facility, but based its case on a “technical question about the administration of the licensing process.” The court ruled that, although the project had already been subject to an extensive environmental assessment, an additional environmental assessment was required prior to issuing an operating licence. Cogema Resources plans to ask for permission to continue to operate the plant while awaiting a further ruling.
