Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) launched the process to select a suitable site for the deep geological repository (DGR) for Canada's used nuclear fuel in 2010. By 2012, 22 communities had expressed an interest in learning about the project and exploring their potential to host it. Eleven of those communities went forward to the second phase of NWMO's preliminary assessment process. By the end of 2019, the list of potential host communities had been narrowed down to two: the Revell Site, some 43 km northwest of the town of Ignace, and 21 km southeast of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation; and the South Bruce Site, about 5 km northwest of Teeswater in the municipality of South Bruce.
Ignace's willingness process provided numerous opportunities for the community to provide input on the project. A multi-phased community engagement programme led by a third-party engagement consultant, With Chéla Inc, included direct dialogue with residents, youth engagement and a community vote open to residents 16 and older. In addition, a volunteer Willingness Ad Hoc Committee considered the results of the engagement activities and provided guidance to Council on the community’s willingness to host the project.
The recommendations to Council outlined that 77.3% (495 participants) voted in favour of becoming a willing host community, whilst 20.8% (133) voted against and 1.9% (12) abstained. With Chéla estimated there were 1035 eligible participants and 660 opted into the process.
At a special meeting on 10 July, Ignace Council unanimously accepted and endorsed a set of recommendations from the Willingness Ad Hoc Committee and passed a resolution addressed to NWMO that indicates that the town is a willing host community for the DGR.
"We are proudly the first community in Canada to be indicating our support and our willingness to continue in the selection process by the NWMO in the potential siting of the DGR project in this area," said Mayor Kim Baigrie. "The residents of the Township of Ignace have spoken loud and clear and we fully respect their direction as a Council, and we clearly have now indicated our support through an official resolution to the NWMO based on the recommendations from our Willingness Ad Hoc Committee members."
"The endorsement by Township Council of this recommendation from the Willingness Ad Hoc Committee in no way, either guarantees that the Township will host a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel, or that a final decision by the NWMO has been made on the actual siting of this multi-billion-dollar project," Ignace Council noted in a statement. "It simply indicates, through an official resolution to NWMO, that the community of Ignace has undertaken a willingness process and has now agreed to continue to be a potential willing host towards the decision from NWMO slated for later this year."
A concept for the Canadian used nuclear fuel repository (Image: NWMO)
"We congratulate the Township and its residents for reaching this important step and admire the thought and care that has gone into this process and into shaping what the project could look like in the community," said NWMO Vice-President of Site Selection Lise Morton. "We could not have gotten to where we are today without the leadership and dedication to learning shown by the people of Ignace."
NWMO continues to collaborate with the three other communities involved in the site selection process to understand community willingness to move forward. Discussions are ongoing with Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON) in the northwest, Saugeen Ojibway Nation (comprised of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation) and the Municipality of South Bruce in the southwest, which will hold a municipal referendum in October.
NWMO has always said that the project will only proceed in an area with informed and willing host communities, where the municipality, Indigenous peoples, and others in the area are working together to implement it.
The Ignace Council said it respects that a decision by WLON will also be required to proceed if northwestern Ontario is selected to host the DGR.
NWMO is expected to make a final decision on the siting of the DGR by the end of December 2024. Once the final site selection has been made, its safety will be confirmed through a rigorous regulatory review of the repository design and safety case. The regulatory and licensing process is expected to take about 10 years to complete.
Construction of the repository is expected to begin in 2033, with operations beginning in the early-2040s.
