Bruce County Warden Chris Peabody In Finland (supplied photo)
South Bruce is planning to hold a presentation next month on deep geological repositories (DGR) after a delegation from Bruce County recently visited one in Finland.
County Warden Chris Peabody says the trip north of the capital of Helsinki, hosted by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), included local politicians and citizen groups visiting the first operating DGR in Finland.
The Onkalo facility in Finland is expected to be the first DGR for high-level nuclear waste in the world when it begins operations next year, online reports explain.
South Bruce is one of two sites in Ontario being studied by the NWMO as a potential location for a deep geologic repository to store Canada’s used nuclear fuel.
The delegation included Huron-Kinloss Mayor Don Murray and the Deputy Mayor Jim Hanna, as well as three councillors from South Bruce. There were also two citizen groups, including Protect Our Waterways, which is opposed to DGRs. A member of an Ojibway Nation from the Ontario-Manitoba border and an Elder from Mi’kmaq Nation in New Brunswick also made the trip to Finland.
“It was a great learning experience,” says Peabody. “We learned about the scientific process and I think it is great that Finland went first with the process so other communities can learn. So I appreciate the opportunity to go over there and learn about this. My main concern as the warden of Bruce County would be the impacts of such a project on our community.”
Peabody says while nuclear energy is going through a revival in Ontario, the challenge the industry faces is the question of how to dispose of the high level of waste.
“Right now in Bruce County, there is a large amount of waste being stored on the shores of Lake Huron and as the waste is radioactive for 100,000 years, it is important to find a solution to move it away from the Great Lakes,” says Peabody.
Before this trip, representatives from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada met with a South Bruce committee to talk about the NWMO’s proposed DGR project and the site selection ongoing between South Bruce and Ignace, Ont.
South Bruce Committee Learns About Post DGR Site Selection Process
Project Manager of the South Bruce Nuclear Exploration Team Dave Rushton says the municipality is currently undergoing a community consultation process and plans on holding a referendum on the proposed DGR project in late 2024.
“Right now we’re looking at safety, environment and the geology of the site, so that is the work the NWMO is doing and we peer review any work that they do. We are also at the same time working on drafting a hosting agreement. A hosting agreement spells out what will happen if our community decides not to proceed with the project and also what happens if we decide to be a host community,” says Rushton.
He says there are plans to present to the public what the delegation learned while in Finland in August.
Chris Peabody In Finland (Photo provided by Chris Peabody)