The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has published a Confidence in Safety report for both of the potential sites being considered to host a deep geological repository to store Canada’s used nuclear fuel.
In the report, on Ignace and an area near Teeswater, Ontario, years of research and fieldwork has indicated that both sites can meet the project’s requirements to contain and isolate the used nuclear fuel to protect people and the environment.
Both were found to be seismically quiet and stable settings, with the rock formation of the necessary depth. Both also do not have any known economically exploitable resource within the rock for the future.
After the final site is selected additional studies will be undertaken to further inform the repository design and long-term safety case.
The site will be more than 500 meters below ground and surrounded by a natural shield of solid rock. It will also use a series of additional engineered barriers to ensure, says the report, the facility’s safety for many thousand years.
After selection, the regulatory and licensing process is expected to take a decade to complete.
