WINGHAM, ONT. -- There’s now a specific site northwest of Teeswater, Ont. that could be home to Canada’s most radioactive nuclear waste.
Enough landowners have agreed to option, lease or sell their land to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to move South Bruce to the front of the line in terms of hosting all of Canada’s used nuclear fuel.
About 1,300 acres of land has been optioned by the NWMO so far, allowing for detailed borehole drilling and environmental studies.
Darren Ireland is one of the landowners whose agreed to have his land used for the project.
“I was born and raised in this community, and my family and I are proud to call South Bruce home. We understand that this project has the potential to bring long-term benefits to the area.”
The only other community still in the running along with South Bruce, is the town of Ignace in Northern Ontario. The Township of Huron-Kinloss is no longer on the list of potential host communities.
There are currently three million used nuclear fuel bundles to be buried as part of this project. That’s enough to fill eight hockey rinks from the ice to the top of the boards.
Approximately 5.2 million bundles of high-level nuclear waste are expected to the proposed underground storage facility, upon completion.
The used fuel bundles remain dangerously radioactive for tens of thousands of years.
The NWMO wants to have a single site chosen by 2023.
