Left: LEGEND
A Surface facilities B Services area C Placement rooms D Excavated Rock Management Area
3-D depiction of the DGR
A year later, in 2002, the NWMO was created and a
study, with engagement of Canadians, was undertaken to determine Canada’s path forward. In June 2007, the Government of Canada selected Adaptive Phased Management (APM) as Canada’s plan for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. The centralised containment and isolation of the used fuel in a deep geological repository with informed and willing hosts closely mirrors the Finland experience. A similar DGR facility is about to break ground in Sweden, with an in- service date anticipated in the 2030s. The ground broken in the Nordic countries and the
concurrent efforts of Canada and other countries, including France and the Czech Republic, have created an international community of experts that lend technical veracity to these solutions. And, with each one that achieves another milestone success, the question of “what about the waste” becomes increasingly answerable. Despite the similarities with the approach of other
countries like Finland, Canada has diverged its path in selecting a host community at a greater distance from existing facilities. But transportation of the spent fuel cannisters to site was always going to be a factor even with site selection at South Bruce given its location in southwestern Ontario. Transportation would still have been required through southern Ontario from the Darlington and Pickering stations east of Toronto, as well as from a small number of units in Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec.
Costs and funding Canada requires that cost of waste management be included in electricity charges with deposits in a segregated fund to be invested solely for the purpose of managing nuclear waste. In 2021, the NWMO alongside external experts created
a project cost case study, updating prior studies. NWMO based it on the Ignace site and used assumptions of operating lifetimes of the existing generating stations. New nuclear generation would require expanded facilities that would be covered by additional financial collections over the span of those facilities’ operation. Up until 2188, when the facility is anticipated to be decommissioned and close, given a projected volume of 5.5 million fuel bundles, the NWMO has estimated the facility will cost about C$26bn in 2020 equivalent dollars (around US$18bn). The costs cover
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programme management (including stakeholder relations and engagement, geosphere monitoring, environmental, safety assessment, technical research and collaboration on common services), licensing, construction, operation, long- term monitoring and decommissioning through to closure.
Going far, together It has been said in many ways and in many cultures that if you want to go fast, go alone but to go far, go together. Through their own words and more than a decade of sweating the details, Ignace Township and the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation have demonstrated they understand the gravity of their role as partners with the NWMO. Working together on behalf of Canadians, they articulate a clear vision to move forward, support their communities’ wellbeing, and to protect the environment for future generations. In doing so, they also help ensure Canada’s nuclear energy can provide a sustainable option to provide the reliable, low-carbon electricity millions of Canadians and the economy relies upon. ■
LEGEND 1 The nuclear fuel pellet
2 The fuel element and the fuel bundle 3 The used nuclear fuel container 4 Bentonite clay 5 The geosphere
Below:
Multiple barrier system
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