Karl Herchenroeder
RW Monitor
11/6/2015
With Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) completing the first phase of a preliminary assessment for the municipality of Central Huron, 11 communities are now poised for a second round of review in the search to site a national spent nuclear fuel repository.
NWMO is spearheading the search for a deep underground repository site through a long-term program called adaptive phased management. Central Huron warrants further study, according to a press release from the organization.
“Increasingly detailed field studies and engagement, completed in collaboration with the community, will provide additional learning about the area’s potential for meeting strict safety requirements and for the project to align with the community’s long-term vision,” said Kathryn Shaver, NWMO vice president of APM engagement and site selection, in a press release.
Twenty-one communities in Ontario and Saskatchewan requested preliminary assessments in the selection process. For phase two, Central Huron will be joined by the following: Blind River, Elliot Lake, Hornepayne, Huron-Kinloss, Ignace, Manitouwadge, Schreiber, South Bruce, White River, and Creighton.
The search is expected to take several more years, according to the release. Phase 2 will include field work, more detailed studies, and broader engagement with the communities and their surrounding areas. Preliminary findings do not confirm technical suitability and safety of any site, the release states, and at this point, no community is asked to confirm its willingness to host the project. Communities have the option to terminate involvement at any point during the site selection process.
For their participation and completion of the preliminary stage, each community will receive a $400,000 grant “to build community sustainability and well-being,” the NWMO has said. As required by Canadian law, waste producers are responsible for its disposal. The fuel owners are required to cover the costs, and do so through trust fund sources.
The national spent fuel repository would serve all 20 nuclear reactors in Canada, which are projected to produce 4.5 million fuel bundles by the end of their lifespans, according to NWMO spokesman Mike Krizanc.
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Canadian PM to Block Nuclear Waste Site Near Lake Huron
Separately, members of the Michigan congressional delegation on Thursday urged new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt the approval and construction of an underground nuclear waste facility near Lake Huron in Ontario.
Senate Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chair Debbie Stabenow (D), task force member Gary Peters (D), and House Great Lakes Task Force member Dan Kildee (D) joined nine other U.S. representatives from Michigan in signing the letter to Trudeau, which requests that the new administration consider alternative locations outside the Great Lakes Basin. The previous Canadian administration set a Dec. 2 date to decide whether to move forward with the repository site. The project is proposed in Kincardine, Ontario, which is less than a mile from Lake Huron, and would store 7 million cubic feet of radioactive waste.
"The Great Lakes are our most precious natural resource — providing drinking water to 40 million people on both sides of the border and billions of dollars to our regional and national economies,” the letter reads. “Given the critical importance of these shared waters to our countries, and the potentially catastrophic damages to the lakes from a nuclear accident, we urge your administration not to approve this repository and consider alternative locations outside the Great Lakes Basin.”
A press release accompanying the letter states that given the proximity to the Great Lakes, an accident that releases radioactive material could devastate the region’s $7 billion fishing industry, harm Michigan’s economy, and severely damage environmentally sensitive areas.
Earlier this year, Stabenow, Peters, and Kildee introduced the Stop Nuclear Waste by Our Lakes Act, which cited the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 in urging the International Joint Commission to study the risks associated with the proposed nuclear waste site. The legislation also would require that the State Department negotiate with the Canadian government in waiting for the study before any waste-site approval.
