Northwestern Ontario has been chosen to store Canada’s nuclear waste.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the not-for-profit body tasked with managing Canada’s nuclear waste, announced Thursday morning that it has chosen Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON) and the Township of Ignace as the host communities for Canada’s first deep geological repository.
The site selection process began in 2010. After more than a decade of engagement with potential hosts, the NWMO narrowed down the choice between two potential sites:
- The Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area, about 250 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
- The Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario, about 130 kilometres northwest of London.
“After extensive technical study and community engagement, the NWMO selected a site that is safe and where the host communities have demonstrated that they understand the project and support making it part of their community,” the NWMO said in a news release issued Thursday.
Both Ignace and WLON held community votes on whether they should host the repository. In Ignace, 77 per cent of respondents said yes, while the majority of residents in WLON agreed (the exact results of the vote have not been made public).
Meanwhile, in South Bruce, a slim majority of residents – 51.2 per cent – voted in favour of being a host community.
“This is a historic moment,” said Laurie Swami, NWMO president and CEO, in a news release issued Thursday. “This project will solve an environmental issue and supports Canada’s climate change goals. And today’s decision was driven by a consent-based siting process led by Canadians and Indigenous peoples. This is what making history looks like.”
Reactions from host communities, government
The NWMO, which was founded in 2002, calls the repository a $26 billion project that will create hundreds of jobs.
“We are honoured, we are humbled, and we are so proud to be part of the the first communities, alongside our First Nation partners – Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation – to have been selected by the NWMO to host the DGR (deep geological repository) project in this area,” said Ignace’s mayor Kim Baigrie in a news release Thursday.
Chief Clayton Wetelainen of WLON also issued a statement Thursday morning, saying “we look forward to continuing to work closely as this project enters the regulatory assessment phase.”
“WLON views our role as the potential host for Canada’s used nuclear fuel as one of the most important responsibilities of our time. We can not ignore this challenge and allow it to become a burden for future generations,” Wetelainen said. “Our membership spoke with a clear voice in our willingness decision that we have the bravery and courage to continue to the next phase of this project.”
The project has come with considerable backlash from a number of environmental organizations, as well as a coalition of a dozen First Nations from northern Ontario.
Two Ontario towns are voting to decide whether to allow Canada’s nuclear waste to be buried underneath them, forever. Andrew Chang explains how it would work, the risks and the big incentives the towns are being offered.
Some of the main concerns include the waste’s transportation, the integrity of the storage containers, the safety of employees transporting the waste and working at the repository, and the environmental impact.
Construction on the repository isn’t expected to begin until the mid 2030s, with the site operational in the early 2040s, the NWMO has told CBC News.
Jonathan Wilkinson, federal minister of energy and natural resources, expressed “deep gratitude” to the communities that were engaged throughout the site selection process.
“Thanks to our commitment to health and safety, Canadian nuclear energy will continue to power communities at home and allies around the world – providing Canadians jobs and opportunities for generations,” Wilkinson said.
At the provincial level, Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of energy and electrification, thanked leaders in Ignace and WLON for their willingness to host the site.
“As our government expands our zero-emissions nuclear fleet to meet rising energy demand, Ontario is cementing its position as a world leader in all parts of the nuclear lifecycle – this achievement by NWMO is just the latest example,” Lecce said.
Next steps for the project
There are still a number of approvals that are needed before construction on the project can begin. At this point, the project has entered step 7 of 9 outlined on the NWMO’s website: the regulatory review and approval process.
The NWMO has agreed to an Indigenous-led RAAP (Regulatory Assessment and Approval Process), designed by WLON, “to ensure that potential impacts of the project are assessed against WLON’s Anishinaabe Values, and that conditions to mitigate any impacts are designed by WLON and complied with by the NWMO.”
As well, “the project will enter the rigorous regulatory decision-making process that will ensure that the NWMO’s understanding of the safety of the repository is independently confirmed, by both the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and through the Government of Canada’s impact assessment process,” the NWMO says.