Canadian Joint Review Panel Moves to Next Step in DGR Review

The Joint Review Panel overseeing the environmental assessment of Ontario Power Generation’s planned deep geologic repository in Ontario closed the record yesterday for public comment and information. This step starts the countdown for the submittal of an environmental assessment report to the Canadian Minister of the Environment with its recommendations for the path forward. The Panel had previously said it would submit the report within 90 days, but due to the large public comment interest, it announced it would submit its report no later than May 6, 2015. “The Joint Review Panel has written to the Minister of the Environment and the President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to indicate that, due to the volume and complexity of the information received, it is not feasible for the Panel to complete its report within 90 days of the close of the record as stipulated in the original Joint Review Panel Agreement Terms of Reference,” the Panel said. “The Panel will deliver its Report to the Minister of the Environment on or before May 6, 2015.”

 

The proposed repository would be located beneath OPG’s Bruce nuclear facility in Kincardine, Ont. OPG plans on storing low and intermediate waste from its Bruce, Pickering, and Darlington power stations at the proposed repository, which would be located 680 meters (approximately 744 yards) below the surface in an isolated rock formation of shale and limestone. The project has drawn the ire of citizens on both sides of the border because of its proximity to the Great Lakes, one of the world’s largest sources of fresh water.