Nuclear Waste Management Organization begins site selection process for 2nd deep geological repository

The Canadian government has yet to decide whether it would allow recycling spent nuclear fuel in the country, as the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announces it will be engaging with the public to choose a site for the nation's second deep geological repository.

The nuclear energy organization has launched a two-year public engagement process — which will focus on both technical safety and community willingness — to refine the site selection strategy. The formal site selection process is expected to begin around 2028.

Akira Tokuhiro, a nuclear engineering professor at Ontario Tech University, said the announcement reflects strategic foresight, but he said Canada is still focused on permanent disposal, unlike other countries who are pursuing a different approach — reprocessing and reusing spent nuclear fuel.

"One thing that I learned on my visit to the French site in 2013, is used fuel or nuclear waste or the spent fuel has to be reusable or retrievable," he said.

"They have the technical means today to reprocess that fuel and put it back in the reactor and to extract more energy."

Finland is one of the first countries to license a permanent repository with the option of retrieval. France goes further, reprocessing its spent fuel to extract more energy, a practice rarely discussed in Canada despite being technically feasible.

"Canada certainly has the technical capability. It doesn't mean that it has the facilities, but it has the capability and the know-how and the smart people to recycle that or reuse that spent fuel," said Tokuhiro.

"Even today, Canada is choosing not to make that commitment."

While reprocessing is more expensive up front, he said, it's arguably more climate-friendly. But Canada, like many nations, has embraced a "once-through" cycle: mine uranium, use it once, and store the waste indefinitely.

The reason Canada hasn't followed France's lead, Tokuhiro said, comes down to economics.

"That is overall cheaper than it is to recycle. This is the same problem as plastic," he said.

Dave Novog, professor, engineering physics at McMaster University, said the current Canadian model has "proved pretty attractive" because it means Canada does not rely on anyone else in the world for its fuel or for reprocessing technology.

"I think that's been a good decision so far when it comes to fuel recycling and the sort of advanced reactors that are needed to do that," Novog told CBC Thunder Bay.

"Those reactors, at least in my opinion, are in their infancy and it would be a huge risk for us to sort of say those reactors will eventually come and save our waste problem."

Novog said he likes the government's and the NWMO's approach, noting that "these repositories take anywhere from 30 to 40 to even 50 years to construct. And so by that time, if these advanced reprocessing technologies are attractive and commercially viable, we can always move in that direction."

Novog added that by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel would still generate some waste.

"We will still have to deal with and solve a lot of that waste, so I think if nuclear is really going to double or triple its capacity like they talked about in the COP agreements, we're going to be generating more waste and it's important that we have a solution for it," he said.

Commissioning a second deep geological repository is part of an initiative aimed at addressing the long-term storage of intermediate- and non-fuel high-level radioactive waste from equipment and components used inside nuclear reactors and medical isotope byproducts, as well as waste from future nuclear reactors. The first repository in the Township of Ignace will store used nuclear fuel from used reactors.

"There is international scientific consensus that a deep geological repository is the safest way to manage intermediate- and high-level waste over the long-term," said Laurie Swami, president and CEO of the NWMO, emphasizing the need for a permanent solution.

"Canada is planning for the future."

Currently, Canada's intermediate- and high-level waste is stored on an interim basis, so these solutions are not considered suitable for long-term containment. The new repository will be designed to store waste deep underground, in line with international practices for managing high-level nuclear waste.

Site selection for the second repository will be guided by both technical criteria, such as geological suitability and community support. The NWMO has emphasized that community consent and Indigenous consultation will be central to the process.

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The two-year engagement period will include public consultations, cultural verification studies, and collaboration with Indigenous communities.

"We understand that many communities are getting a lot of requests to engage on major projects. And so, we want to make sure that we have the time to get meaningful input and have a meaningful discussion on the siting process before implementing it," said Joanne Jacyk, director of site selection at the NWMO.

For now, the NWMO is encouraging Canadians and Indigenous peoples to learn more or take part in the engagement process by visiting the NWMO's website or contacting the organization at [email protected].