Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) said Tuesday it had narrowed to three the number of communities being considered to host a deep geologic repository for spent fuel from nuclear power plants.
In a site-selection process that began in 2010 with 22 candidate sites, the remaining locations are the township of Ignace in northwest Ontario and southern Ontario’s municipality of South Bruce and township of Huron-Kinloss.
The latest culling from five locations left the townships of Hornepayne and Manitouwadge, both in northern Ontario, on the sidelines.
“In Hornepayne and Manitouwadge technical site evaluations and social assessments found some potential to implement the project, however the same studies found limited potential to form the supportive partnerships necessary to implement the project within the planning timeframe,” an NWMO spokesman said by email Tuesday.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization said it expects to eliminate either South Bruce or Huron-Kinloss, bringing the number of communities under consideration to two. It did not discuss a schedule for that decision, which will be based on studies of properties in the area following agreements for access by the landowners.
Site selection is scheduled for completion in 2023.
“As we work towards identifying a single, preferred location for this project, in an area with informed and willing hosts, we need to increasingly focus on specific locations that have strong potential to meet the project’s safety and partnership requirements,” Mahrez Ben Belfadhel, NWMO vice president of site selection, said in a press release. “These are hard decisions and not made lightly, but ultimately, we are working towards identifying one area where we can implement Canada’s plan to ensure the protection of both people and the environment.”
Canadian nuclear utilities established the nonprofit NWMO to site, construct, and manage the deep geologic repository for an anticipated 5.2 million bundles of radioactive used fuel. When the project is complete, at an expected cost of $24 billion CAD ($18.1 billion U.S.), the material would be buried 500 meters underground.
It is likely to take a decade to build the disposal facility, according to the NWMO, followed by at least 40 years to transport and emplace the spent fuel.
