Press Release

[Grant Cubbon <gcubbon@innovplace.saskatoon.sk.ca>]

                   N E W S   R E L E A S E  I M M E D I A T E

	C A N A D A   C E R T I F I E S   I N D E P E N D E N T   S E R V I C E   
	T O   P R O T E C T   W O R K E R S   F R O M    L U N G   C A N C E R 

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada: Monday, March 16, 1998 -

The Canadian government has certified the only laboratory service in North
America to measure the exposure of workers to radiation from radon and
radioactive dust. Historically, no other kind of radiation exposure has been
more destructive to the health of industrial workers.  

The announcement was made at a press conference in the city of Saskatoon
today by Dr. Fergal Nolan, President of the independent Canadian Institute
for Radiation Safety (CAIRS). The laboratory service (called "personal alpha
dosimetry") is supplied to industry by the CAIRS National Laboratories in
Saskatoon.

The purpose of the CAIRS service is to prevent lung cancer as a result of
over-exposure to radiation from radon and radioactive dust.

"Over-exposure to this kind of radiation", Dr. Nolan said, "has caused
hundreds of deaths from lung cancer in the Canadian mining industry,
especially in the old uranium mines of Ontario in central Canada and at the
St. Lawrence fluorspar mine in Newfoundland. The United States and other
countries have seen many workers die from the same source." 

Canada's Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB) issued the certification to
CAIRS on March 11 in Ottawa, following successful completion by CAIRS of a
rigorous three-year application process, including over 1,400 pages of
scientific and technical documentation and an extensive on-site audit by
AECB officials.  "CAIRS passed with flying colours", says Dr. Reza Moridi,
Director of Science and Technology, who headed the CAIRS certification team.

The CAIRS laboratory service is the first in Canada to qualify under the
rigorous requirements of Canada's new Nuclear Safety and Control Act, which
comes into force later this year. "CAIRS is ahead of the game and that's
just where we like to be in radiation safety," says CAIRS president, Fergal
Nolan. "CAIRS now has the only certified service for this kind of radiation
dosimetry for industrial workers in all of North and South America, Asia and
Australia."

In western Canada, over 500 Saskatchewan uranium miners are monitored by the
CAIRS service through contracts with COGEMA Resources Inc., Cameco Corp. and
Cigar Lake Mining Corp.

"The uranium industry in Saskatchewan has made important advances over the
old days of uranium mining in Ontario", Nolan says. "One of the most
important is its commitment to measuring each worker's personal exposure to
radiation from radon and radioactive dust. CAIRS is pleased to have played a
significant part in this development."   [END]

CONTACT: Fergal Nolan/Reza Moridi Ph:306-975-0566 (Saskatoon); 416-650-9090
(Toronto)
          e-mail: fnolan@cairs.ca/ rmoridi@cairs.ca