The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has issued the final integrated tailored impact statement guidelines for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) deep geological repository proposal on Friday, which formally begins the impact statement phase of the federal regulatory process.
Vince Ponka, Indigenous and regional communications manager with the NWMO, said they are reviewing the final tailored impact statement guidelines and will ensure the guideline requirements will be met in the NWMO’s impact statement.
“The final (tailored impact statement guidelines) reflect input received from Indigenous Peoples, the public, federal authorities and other participants throughout the planning phase,” Ponka said. “The document outlines the information and studies the NWMO will be required to include in its impact statement and licence application.”
The document contains 102 technical considerations and references for the preparation of an impact statement for the deep geological repository for Canada’s used nuclear fuel project.
The references include everything from species at risk, the Fisheries Act, and migratory bird conservation, to potential impacts on rights to Indigenous Peoples, human health impacts, highway improvements, food security and global air quality, to name a few.
The references are specific to dozens of environmental impacts as well as seismic, hydrological, and meteorological hazards.
The document provides technical considerations, as well as references to additional resources, to support the preparation of the impact statement for the repository. It states that it is the responsibility of the proponent, being the NWMO, to remain aware of updates to these resources after the date that this document is published.
The NWMO’s proposed repository system for approximately 5.9 million bundles of used nuclear fuel will be designed to safely contain and isolate used nuclear fuel, spanning approximately 160 years.
It will be located 21 kilometres southeast of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and 43 kilometres northwest of the Town of Ignace, along Highway 17.
The project assessment is being conducted in collaboration with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. According to the Government of Canada website, the post-closure period of the project could last up to one million years.
