International collaboration
Dr. Jeff Binns, a scientist at the NWMO, examines a clay bearing feature in the Adventure Copper Mine in Greenland, Mich.
The NWMO is committed to partnering with and learning from other organizations worldwide that are also responsible for the safe management of used nuclear fuel. Partnering with other radioactive waste management organizations allows us to foster international co-operation on developing and demonstrating the technology, to learn from other countries’ experience, and to keep abreast of repository design and safety case development for various host rock formations.
Over the past three years, we have continued our collaboration with international partners to share information, conduct joint research and learn from shared experiences. In particular, the NWMO continued our participation in Posiva’s Full-Scale In-Situ System Test project at its ONKALO repository in Olkiluoto, Finland. This was a full-scale underground emplacement trial of its engineered-barrier system and simulated thermal testing for modelling validation. This repository is planned to begin operations in the mid-2020s.
We also continued to support several underground experiments at the Mont Terri Project and Grimsel Test Site in Switzerland. These projects include studies of chemistry, corrosion, microbiology, sealing system performance and groundwater behaviour in natural underground conditions.
Specialists at the NWMO contributed to international projects, including:
- The Effective Rock Mass and POST Projects (with SKB of Sweden);
- The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Clay Club and Crystalline Club, including support for publication of the Catalogue of Characteristics of Argillaceous Rocks;
- The NEA Integration Group for the Safety Case;
- The NEA Expert Group on Operational Safety;
- The NEA Forum for Stakeholder Confidence; and
- The DECOVALEX coupled-process modelling project.
The NWMO continued to maintain our ongoing co-operation agreements with international counterparts in Belgium, France, Finland, Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. These agreements help ensure we are considering international best practices, as well as sharing our experiences as we implement Canada’s plan. As part of working with the United Kingdom in 2020, we took part in the Canada-U.K. Nuclear Energy Summit in February 2020, before the pandemic paused international travel in Canada.
In December 2021, Posiva in Finland submitted an operating licence application for its encapsulation and final disposal facility. In January 2022, SKB in Sweden received approval from the Swedish government regarding the encapsulation facility in Oskarshamn and the final repository in Östhammar. In July 2022, France published the official decree recognizing the public utility of Cigéo, which was a key step in its project for storage of nuclear fuel waste. In September 2022, Nagra in Switzerland selected a site for its deep geological repository. In November 2022, a royal decree was published in Belgium establishing a national policy for the safe, long-term management of high-level or long-lived radioactive waste, as recommended by ONDRAF/NIRAS.
In the period between 2020 and 2022, we also had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Yusuke Ogawa from Japan’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NUMO) for several months as we co-operated with Nagra and NUMO on copper coatings.