By Matt Prokopchuk
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
TBnewswatch.com
IGNACE — The years-long process for regulators to decide whether a proposed nuclear waste storage site gets the green light has begun.
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has posted the initial project description for the deep geological repository being proposed in the Ignace area by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, or NWMO. The public posting officially kicks off the assessment done jointly between the impact assessment agency and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
The first chance for people to comment on the NWMO’s proposal to federal regulators has also begun, with initial submissions being accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 4.
“It’s an opportunity for the public to be involved and to learn more about this, what I call, an incredibly important project for Canada,” Allan Webster, the waste management organization’s vice president of regulatory approvals, told Newswatch.
“And, so we encourage people to do that and to learn more.”
The proposed repository would store approximately 5.9 million bundles of used nuclear fuel from Canada’s nuclear power plants at a site near Revell Lake between Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation south of Highway 17. The two communities are the hosts for the project.
The proposed storage facilities for the spent fuel would be deeper than 500 metres underground, the NWMO says, and involve using a system of engineered and natural barriers that the organization has consistently said is safe. The project is expected to last about 160 years, “including site preparation, construction, operation (about 50 years), decommissioning and closure, and post-closure monitoring,” according to the NWMO.
The project continues to be opposed by a variety of stakeholders, including environmental groups and a number of First Nations throughout northern Ontario.
Wendy O’Connor, a volunteer and spokesperson with We the Nuclear Free North, told Newswatch they also want to get the word out that the federal process has begun.
“We’re encouraging people to sign up with the impact assessment agency so that they’re informed of the release of documents such as this, and of public comment periods,” she said.
“The more of the public that comments, the better — as we see it.”
Comments gathered during the initial one-month period gives the impact assessment agency information about what people are thinking about the NWMO’s formal proposal, with the agency saying in a media release that they “should be based on local, regional or Indigenous knowledge of the site or surrounding environment, or provide any other relevant information that may support the conduct of this assessment.”
“Thereafter, we understand what it is that we have to assess and we really start to talk to people a lot about specifically what it is we’re assessing,” Webster said. “What does it mean, what impacts might it have, what mitigations might be available, and we involve people with that discussion every step of the way, so that people can give us the input we need so we can do things well.”
“But, also, so they’re informed so they understand what it is that we’re intending to do.”
O’Connor said her group will likely be doing its own public awareness-raising throughout the assessment period.
“It is an important part of the process,” she said. “It’s constructive to consider the impact assessment agency as a good-faith actor, and we take that stance that it’s important for everyone to participate in this, and that the comments will be important from the public.”
“Comments received will support (the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada) and the (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) in the preparation of a summary of issues that will be sent to the proponent and help shape how the overall integrated assessment will be carried out,” the impact assessment agency’s media release said.
Webster said the assessment is expected to be completed within five years, culminating with a decision from the federal government and, if successful, an initial licence from the nuclear safety commission.
Additional separate licences from the CNSC also have to be issued including for things like site construction and operations, he added, with those also contingent on initial project approval.
If that happens, those would be expected to be an additional roughly five to 10 years down the road.
More information is available at the impact assessment agency’s website, as is how to comment.