HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-02-26, Page 16A
16 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, February 26, 2014
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NUCLEAR WASTE SOCIETE DE GESTION
MANAGEMENT DES DECHETS
ORGANIZATION NUCLEAIRES
Selecting a Site for Canada's National Used Fuel Repository
I
Canada's plan for the long-term care of used nuclear fuel involves containing and isolating it in a national repository. Used nuclear fuel is a
solid material produced from the generation of electricity in nuclear power plants. It is a potential health risk for a very long time and must be
protected from people and the environment. The plan also involves developing a used fuel transportation system and construction of a centre
of expertise that will be a hub for national and international collaboration. An important decision is where to locate this national repository and
centre of expertise.
Q
A.
How will the site be selected?
The NWMO is leading a site selection process to identify an informed
and willing host for the national repository and centre of expertise required
by Canada's plan. The process was developed over a two-year period in
dialogue with Canadians, and reflects their ideas, experience and best
advice on what an open, transparent and fair decision-making process
would include. The process also builds upon the best knowledge and
experience within Canada and internationally.
Q When will a decision on a site be made?
A. Selecting a site will require years of study. No decision will be made
before these studies are completed and the project has been the
subject of formal regulatory review and environmental assessment.
Q What are the goals of the site selection process?
A. The site selection process will ensure:
• any community selected to host the facility is informed
about the project and willing to host it;
• any site selected to host this facility will safely contain and
isolate used nuclear fuel for a very long time in an
appropriate geological formation, and that there is an
acceptable way of transporting used fuel to the site;
• surrounding communities affected by the project and the
transportation of used fuel are involved in planning how the
project will be implemented;
• First Nations and Metis peoples potentially affected by this
project are involved in learning, assessment and planning.
Q
A.
Q
A.
Q
A.
What factors will be considered?
Any potential community and site will be assessed against a
number of factors, both technical and social in nature. First and
foremost, the preferred site will be one that can safely contain and
isolate used nuclear fuel, protecting humans and the environment
over the very long term. Secondly, locating the facility in the
community must help foster the well-being, or quality of life, of the
local community and surrounding area. Through the site selection
process, the community and site will be assessed in a series of
steps, each designed to evaluate the site in greater detail than the
step before. A community will proceed from one step to the next
only if it chooses to do so and if the work to assess site suitability
supports it. The project will only proceed with the involvement of
the interested community, Aboriginal peoples in the area and
surrounding communities working together to implement it.
Are some communities being targeted?
No. Only communities that are interested in the project, and
expressed this interest by contacting the NWMO, are being
considered.
Can communities leave the process at any time?
Yes. A community that enters the site selection process can leave
the process at any time up until signing a formal agreement many
years in the future.
Kathryn Shaver is Vice -President of APM Engagement and Site Selection at the NWMO. She played an
integral role in the collaborative development with Canadians of Canada's plan for managing used nuclear fuel
over the long term.
"Ask the NWMO" is an advertising feature published regularly in this and other community newspapers to respond to
readers' questions about Canada's plan for managing used nuclear fuel over the long term and its implementation. The
Nuclear Waste Management Organization welcomes your questions. Please forward your questions to
askthenwmo@nwmo.ca.
For more information about the site selection process or other NWMO activities, please visit:
www.nwmo.ca