The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has now been tasked with developing an integrated radioactive waste management strategy.
Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan made the change as part of the Government of Canada's Radioactive Waste Policy Review.
The NWMO is already looking for a home for a deep geologic repository to store Canada's used nuclear fuel, with the choice between South Bruce, and Ignace, Ontario.
Now the NWMO will help come up with a more comprehensive strategy to also manage low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste.
Ontario Power Generation had proposed a separate deep geologic repository for low and intermediate waste, but the planned project at the Bruce Power site in Kincardine was rejected in January by in a vote by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.
"This is important work, and we look forward to lending our expertise to make informed and practical recommendations to the Canadian government on a more comprehensive radioactive waste management strategy for ," said Laurie Swami, President and CEO of the NWMO. "I want to thank Minister O'Regan for entrusting us to lead this process."
A media release from the NWMO says all of Canada's low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste is safely managed today in interim storage. An integrated strategy will ensure the material continues to be managed in accordance with international best practice over the longer-term. Building on previous work, this strategy represents a next step to identify and address any gaps in radioactive waste management planning, while looking further into the future.
"For more than 50 years, Canadian nuclear technology has been in our lives – powering our homes, making life saving medical treatments and bringing safe food to our tables," said Karine Glenn, Strategic Project Director for the NWMO. "I look forward to this being a process of informed, balanced dialogue about what we must do to ensure that people and the environment are protected from the remaining hazards of this material long after we are gone."
More details regarding the process will be shared in the coming weeks. Interested individuals and organizations will have a variety of ways to participate, while respecting public health directives related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please sign up for updates at nwmo.ca/radwasteplanning.
