Nuclear waste selection site update BY LEANNE FOURNIER
The Revell Lake Area, between Ignace and Dryden is one of two short-listed locations currently being considered as a site to host long-term underground storage of nuclear waste. This article aims to provide LOWDSA members with some background and the latest updates about the project and links to resources for more information.
Background In 2002, Parliament passed the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, NFWA, which required nuclear energy corporations to establish a waste management organization as a separate legal entity to manage the full range of activities for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. The NFWA also required that this waste management organization prepare and submit a study to the Government of Canada on proposed approaches for the long-term management of the used fuel. Under this Act, the Government of Canada was designated responsible for: • Reviewing the waste management organization’s study on proposed approaches for the long-term management of spent fuel • Selecting a long-term management option from those proposed and outlined in the study • Providing oversight during the implementation of the selected option In accordance with the NFWA’s requirement to establish a waste management organization as outlined above, Canada’s nuclear electricity producers established the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) in 2002. The NWMO was given the responsibility for designing and implementing Canada’s plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel.
After a comprehensive three-year study and extensive public engagement, the NWMO presented the study, including its preferred approach, to the Government of Canada. In 2007, the NWMO’s recommendation of Adaptive Phased Management (APM) was selected as the preferred approach for the safe and secure long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. APM—which involves the containment and isolation of Canada’s used fuel at a new repository site—comprises six phases, starting with site selection and regulatory approval through to postclosure monitoring of the site. The NWMO is now responsible for implementing APM, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.1 APM is both a technical method and a management system. The endpoint of the technical method is the centralized containment and isolation of Canada's used fuel in a deep geological repository in an area with suitable geology and an informed and willing host. APM also involves the development of a transportation system to move the used fuel from the facilities where it is currently stored to the new site.2 APM also means that the approach can be adapted as technology and science change.
Site selection process and next steps NWMO has been conducting its site selection process since 2010. This process started with 22 municipalities and Indigenous communities that expressed interest in learning more and exploring their potential to host the project. The plan will only proceed in an area with informed and willing host. In addition to the Township of Ignace in northwestern Ontario, the Municipality of South Bruce in southern Ontario are the final two municipalities being considered. Of note is that the Revell Lake area is more than 40 km west of the boundaries of the Township of Ignace.
Title photo: Geologists study the rock for its suitability to host a deep geological repository in Ignace, Ontario.
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In the District Lake of the Woods Area News Fall 2021
