CNL using Canadian sourced lumber for new facilities in Chalk River

A two story industrial complex at the Chalk River Laboratories is one of several new facilities using Canadian sourced lumber. 

This facility will serve as a centralized maintenance and support building for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. 

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, Paul Lefebvre, attended Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) this week (Monday, September 21st), to celebrate the governments investment into new wood construction. 

CNL received $3.96-million from a program administered by Natural Resources Canada to increase the use of wood in infrastructure projects as a sustainable construction material. 

The support facility is one of a number of new ‘enabling’ buildings that are being designed and constructed at the Chalk River campus using wood sourced from Canada, including the outer gate facility, a new building which will transform the site entry point at the Chalk River campus. The support facility features Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) for the elevator shaft, floors and roof panels, which are supported by Glulam timber purlins, beams and columns. Once complete, the building will use 880 m3 of wood and have a net CO2 benefit of 964 metric tonnes.

The buildings are part of a ten-year capital program, funded through a $1.2 billion investment from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), that is designed to transform the Chalk River Laboratories through the revitalization of essential site infrastructure and a significant investment in new, world-class science facilities. 

In addition to the new enabling buildings, CNL recently opened a brand new hydrogen laboratory complex, a new materials research laboratory, and a new tritium laboratory.