Contractors selected for Canada’s nuclear waste repository

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization has announced a multi-contractor team, including WSP Canada, to design the deep underground spent fuel repository planned for Ontario.

In a Monday press release, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said it has chosen a team of WSP Canada, Peter Kiewit Sons, Hatch Ltd., Thyssen Mining Construction of Canada Ltd. and Kinectrics to design and plan the disposal site.

The Canadian agency has used its version of consent-based siting to select a waste disposal site in northwestern Ontario for the proposed disposal site.

Once the underground repository wins approval from the federal government’s multi-year regulatory process and a tribal review process, construction could begin, NWMO said in the release.

The agency and the companies will work together to make the repository a reality, NWMO said in the release. WSP will be in charge of design and engineering for the project; Kiewit is to handle construction; Hatch will design the deep mine; Thyssen Mining will handle mine construction and Kinectrics is responsible for in-depth nuclear operations management.

Groups such as Environment North and Beyond Nuclear oppose the repository. “A number of Ojibway First Nation Bands have also passed resolutions opposing the scheme,” according to the Beyond Nuclear website. 

NWMO is a non-profit organization set up by Canada’s nuclear power generators: Hydro-Québec, Ontario Power Generation and New Brunswick Power. The organization was brought about by the 2002 Nuclear Fuel Waste Act.