2009 Information Updates

Advisory Regarding Tritium Safety Signs

March 18, 2009

Tritium safety signs provide a life-saving function in a number of places, such as public buildings or airplanes, to outline exits in the event of an electrical outage. Recent media reports have raised the issue of a large number of tritium exit signs that have gone missing from Wal-Mart stores in the United States.

In Canada, end-users of tritium safety signs, such as emergency exit signs, are exempt, under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, from requiring a CNSC licence. An end-user of a tritium safety sign therefore has no CNSC requirements for possession, use, disposal or abandonment of the sign. However, the manufacturers of these signs in Canada are licensed by the CNSC. The signs are also certified by the CNSC before the manufacturer can sell them to the general public. The certification ensures that the signs meet the relevant requirements under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act. Even the distributors of these signs are licensed by the CNSC. The Nuclear Safety and Control Act and regulations are designed to ensure that these signs are safe for the end user.

When the signs are past their useful life, these signs can be returned to the manufacturers, who will dismantle them under controlled conditions and recycle the radioactive material (tritium).  There are two licensed Gaseous Tritium Light Source manufacturers in Canada: SRB Technologies in Pembroke, Ontario and Shield Source Inc. in Peterborough, Ontario. These manufacturers keep detailed inventory records of returned safety signs at their facilities.

The manufacturers and distributors are obligated by the Nuclear Safety and Control Act and regulations to produce and distribute an instruction (called a Recall Procedure) to the end user on how to return these signs, should they choose to do so. However, an end user is under no obligation to return these safety signs back to the manufacturers.

For additional information, please contact SRB Technologies at 613-732-0055 or Shield Source Inc. at 1-888-664-1405 or 705-743-6146.