Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization will begin preparing borehole sites this year at the South Bruce site in the province of Ontario with plans to begin drilling next spring, according to a recent update to the South Bruce Community Liaison Committee.
South Bruce is one of two sites the organization is considering to build a permanent underground disposal facility to store Canada’s spent nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has already begun borehole drilling in the second potential location, the township of Ignace in northwest Ontario.
The NWMO, formed in 2002 by Canadian nuclear utilities, started its search for a site in 2010 with 22 potential locations, which it narrowed down to two earlier this year. After selecting the site, which the organization plans to do by 2023, the nonprofit NWMO will build and operate it over the course of 50 years.
Covid-19 halted the organization’s operations earlier this year, forcing it to halt drilling at the Ignace site to prevent further spread of the virus.
Three boreholes will be drilled at the South Bruce site, each to a depth of roughly 900 meters with a diameter of 85 millimeters, NWMO spokesman Bradley Hammond told RadWaste Monitor earlier this year via email.
Six are planned in the Ignace area.
The project will cost around $24 billion CAD ($18.3 billion U.S.) and will bury a projected 5.2 million bundles of radioactive used fuel 500 meters underground.
