The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has released a discussion document on an approach for siting a second deep geological repository for nuclear waste in Canada.
Last month, NWMO awarded a multi-contractor team to design a deep underground spent fuel repository planned for northwestern Ontario. The Canadian agency used its consent-based siting approach to select the Ontarian disposal site.
That proposed site will soon begin a multi-year regulatory decision-making process to independently confirm its safety before the project can proceed, NWMO said in its press release this week. It intends to begin the site selection by 2028.
The eventual second site would be for intermediate and high-level nuclear waste. The Canadian agency is seeking feedback to improve the site selection process, according to NWMO’s Thursday press release.
With the expansion of Canada’s nuclear fleet, the NWMO said the country will need a repository to store these higher level wastes in the long term.
According to the discussion document, all intermediate and high-level waste is stored on a temporary basis at consolidated waste facilities or at the nuclear sites. Indigenous Peoples and other Canadians have encouraged the organization to create a long-term solution, NWMO said.
According to the press release, intermediate-level waste includes equipment that have been used inside reactors in the production of electricity from nuclear fuel. While non-fuel high-level waste can include, for example, small quantities of materials used in the process of making medical isotopes, the NWMO said.
For the cost of the project, the NWMO said it is contingent on the volume of nuclear waste generated, the location of the site and other factors. The agency said it will determine a potential cost of the project over the next several years, according to the discussion document.
The funding for the full cost for the disposal of the wastes in a deep geological repository will “be borne by the nuclear waste owners and generators”, according to the discussion document.
The NWMO has used its own version of a consent-based siting approach to store spent nuclear fuel.
The new project will continue to use its consent-based siting process for its primary site selection criteria. NWMO said it welcomes public input to improve its approach to begin the site selection process for the second repository.
Click here to view NWMO’s discussion document.
