In a statement, the Township of Ignace said the NWMO’s decision “has the potential to alter the future trajectory and landscape of this small community and the entire region.”David Jackson/The Globe and Mail
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization has selected a site north of Lake Superior for a proposed underground disposal facility for nuclear waste.
Thursday’s announcement by NWMO is a milestone for the nuclear industry’s decades-long efforts to find a permanent resting place for its radioactive waste, ending a search that formally began in 2010 and considered 22 candidate sites.
The NWMO had promised a “consent-based” process for locating the facility, which meant a demonstration of willingness from one municipality and one First Nation. The Township of Ignace, which is located 40 kilometres east of the site, confirmed in July it was willing and stands to receive $170-million over the project’s 175-year duration under an agreement it signed with the NWMO earlier this year.
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In a statement, the Township of Ignace said the NWMO’s decision “has the potential to alter the future trajectory and landscape of this small community and the entire region.”
On Nov. 18, Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, while not granting final approval to the project in the same manner Ignace had, announced it had held a referendum through which community members had agreed to “thoroughly explore the project’s feasibility.”
A sign posted on a home that reads, "say no to nuclear waste", in the Township of Ignace on Nov 28. 2024.David Jackson/The Globe and Mail
The NWMO told The Globe and Mail Thursday that it had signed a hosting agreement with Wabigoon Lake First Nation, the contents of which it declined to provide or discuss. Spokesperson Fred Kuntz said the NWMO respected the First Nation’s confidentiality.
“It’s their agreement, and they can decide how much they want to make public about it,” he said.
Municipalities that signed hosting agreements with the NWMO published them earlier this year. Mr. Kuntz said that while the municipalities are bound by rules in the Ontario Municipal Act governing transparency, First Nations are not.
The Globe requested a copy of the agreement from Wabigoon Lake First Nation late on Thursday, but had not received it as of deadline.
Mr. Kuntz said Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation has declared itself a willing host.
In a statement on Thursday, the First Nation described itself as a “potential host” for the disposal facility and said it will conduct its own regulatory process before approving it. Chief Clayton Wetelainen wrote that the First Nation views its role as “one of the most important responsibilities of our time. We cannot ignore this challenge and allow it to become a burden to future generations.”
The Municipality of South Bruce had also signed a hosting agreement earlier this year under which it stood to receive $418-million. That municipality agreed to host the facility in October following a referendum that resulted in a narrow “yes” vote. But the First Nations group the NWMO had negotiated with, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, had not signalled consent.
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The South Bruce municipality announced Thursday its exit from the process, and said it will receive a $4-million payment from the NWMO early next year in exchange for its participation.
The facility, which is known as a deep geological repository (DGR), is estimated to cost $26-billion. It is expected to begin operation in the 2040s. It would store radioactive spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear power reactors, currently located at operational and retired nuclear power plants in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. NWMO is controlled by the owners of those plants: Ontario Power Generation, Hydro Quebec and New Brunswick Power.
The DGR’s proposed location, near Ignace, is known as the Revell site. Critics of the NWMO’s plan point to communities not involved in the site selection process that will nonetheless be impacted by the DGR’s operations – including Dryden, Ont., which is approximately equidistant from the Revell Site and Ignace.
“Other communities such as Dryden (population 7000+) were not asked for their approval, nor was agreement sought from any of the communities along the 2,600-kilometre transportation corridor needed to bring used nuclear fuel from New Brunswick, Quebec, and southern Ontario over public roads for half a century or more,” wrote Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the NWMO and Wabigoon Lake First Nation have not signed a hosting agreement. This version has been updated.