Site assessment
Based on the results of several years of technical studies, the NWMO’s team of scientists and engineers is confident that a deep geological repository can be constructed at either potential site to safely and responsibly manage Canada’s used nuclear fuel for the long term.
The NWMO published Confidence in Safety reports for each site in June 2022. These reports summarized our understanding of the potential sites as of early 2022, which indicated both sites would be suitable for hosting a repository from a technical perspective. The reports are intended to support public discussion around site selection and are part of a larger and ongoing site assessment process. Ongoing and future technical work will include further site characterization studies, design development and safety analyses to confirm and build on the results to date.
From 2020 through 2022, the site assessment team continued to advance geoscientific understanding of both the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON)-Ignace and Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON)-South Bruce sites, despite the pandemic. We completed significant field programs, including the drilling and testing of deep boreholes at both sites, as well as data integration and modelling. Ongoing fieldwork activities include maintenance of equipment, monitoring the sites and collecting data, and continuing to collect and analyze groundwater samples.
An aerial view shows the borehole drilling site in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area.
We were able to safely demobilize our borehole drilling sites due to the pandemic in spring 2020 and remobilize them the following spring. Through 2020 and 2021, advancing fieldwork, as well as interpretation and modelling work, were important ongoing activities for the site assessment team. The team also provided support to the NWMO’s engagement teams and the communities in the siting areas.
In 2022, all initial site characterization field activities were completed. In total, we completed drilling and testing of six boreholes in the WLON-Ignace area and two boreholes in the SON-South Bruce area. Our technical team installed a shallow groundwater well network and a microseismic monitoring network in both areas. We are analyzing the data to further our three-dimensional understanding of the geosphere at both potential sites. We have now transitioned to an ongoing maintenance, monitoring and sampling phase of fieldwork, while also establishing detailed plans for additional site investigation after the site selection decision.
While this technical site assessment work is critical to our process to select a site, just as important is the potential for supportive and resilient partnerships. Canada’s plan will only proceed in an area with informed and willing hosts, where the municipality, First Nation and Métis communities, and others in the area are working together to implement it. To learn more about the NWMO’s approach to partnership, see the section Community engagement.
Accessing land
In the WLON-Ignace area, the potential repository is located on Crown land, and we have worked with the appropriate government bodies to secure access for studies. We will continue to work with these governmental agencies if the area is selected.
In the SON-South Bruce area, through a series of agreements signed with landowners between 2019 and 2021, the NWMO has aggregated just over 1,750 acres of land – enough to host a deep geological repository if this site is selected. The agreements include a combination of option and purchase arrangements, which allows the NWMO to conduct studies while agricultural and quarrying activities continue on the land.