Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said Friday it has removed two jurisdictions from the list of communities being considered to house a deep geologic repository for the nation’s spent reactor fuel.
The Ontario communities of White River Township and the municipality of Central Huron are out, according to an NWMO press release. They join 13 other communities that have previously been cut from consideration.
The leaves areas around Huron-Kinloss and South Bruce, in southwest Ontario, and Homepayne and Manitouwadge, in the northwest of the province, in the running. The agency plans additional geologic studies and preliminary talks with stakeholders on “visioning and partnership,” the release says.
“Regional engagement will continue, as the project will only proceed with interested communities, potentially affected First Nation and Métis communities, and surrounding communities working in partnership to implement it,” the NWMO said.
Areas near the Ontario communities of Ignace, Blind River, and Elliot Lake are also undergoing study during the selection process.
At this time last year, Canada held nearly 2.7 million spent fuel bundles and was producing another 90,000 bundles on an annual basis. The material is currently held at seven nuclear sites in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec.
Site selection for the centralized repository began in 2010 and is due to take a number of years. Building the facility itself would require another decade.
Separately, Canada’s Port Hope Area Initiative said Sunday that exceptionally heavy rainfall on Friday caused water to overflow from a catch basin and storm water management ponds near two existing low-level radioactive waste management facilities. Water flowed into Lake Ontario in both instances, but any environmental impact is believed to be “negligible,” the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories determined.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said Monday it is monitoring the situation.
