A crucial step is on the horizon for Canada’s ambition to bury its nuclear waste.
Late next year, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) will select the site for Canada’s deep geological repository.
This is where millions of containers of spent nuclear fuel will be placed in a network of rooms connected by cavernous tunnels, some 550 meters deep.
There are only two possible sites remaining: the Wabigoon Lake-Ignace Ojibway Nation region in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen-South Bruce Ojibway Nation region in southern Ontario. These two communities will vote next year on their willingness to host the project.
Some community members say the process has caused deep divisions, with people juggling economic benefits with safety concerns, particularly water contamination. But nuclear officials say that for contamination to occur, multiple layers of protection would have to fail, including carbon steel containers lined with copper and encased in clay.
Once the site is selected, regulatory approvals are expected to take about 10 years, followed by about 10 years of construction, and then the spent fuel will be buried. The repository would then be monitored for around 70 years before being sealed.