Ontario town to decide whether it’s willing to host a nuclear waste repository

A northwestern Ontario town is group to determine coming whether it is consenting to go nan tract of a heavy geological repository for Canada’s atomic waste.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization plans to determine this twelvemonth wherever millions of bundles of utilized atomic substance will beryllium placed successful a web of underground rooms connected by cavernous tunnels.

The process for nan $26-billion task is already narrowed down to 2 sites, 1 successful northern Ontario and 1 successful southern Ontario, and nan NWMO says that some nan section municipality and nan First Nation successful those areas will person to work together to beryllium consenting hosts.

The northern Ontario town of Ignace, betwixt Thunder Bay and Kenora, is group to beryllium nan first of those 4 communities coming to make its determination known, astatine a typical gathering of municipality council.

At that meeting, a committee of organization members tasked pinch taking nan beat of nan town’s willingness will coming a advisor report, nan results of a organization ballot and their proposal for aliases against, past councillors will vote.

Neither of nan First Nations has yet made their willingness decisions, and nan municipality of South Bruce is group to clasp a referendum successful October.

The existent fleet of atomic reactors successful Canada will nutrient astir 5.5 cardinal utilized substance bundles, pinch astir 3.2 cardinal already successful either bedewed aliases barren retention connected tract astatine atomic plants.

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But nan NWMO says nan existent containers of heavy actual walls lined connected nan extracurricular pinch a alloy sheet are designed to past 50 years, truthful they are not a semipermanent solution.

The organization, funded by nan corporations that make atomic powerfulness and waste, specified as Ontario Power Generation and Hydro-Quebec, is alternatively readying to build a heavy geological repository, arsenic acold underground arsenic nan CN Tower is tall.

The utilized atomic substance pellets, baked into ceramic, are contained successful substance rods made of corrosion-resistant Zircaloy. Those rods will beryllium successful containers made of c alloy and coated pinch copper, and those containers will beryllium packed into bentonite clay.

Opponents successful nan affected communities interest astir safety, while proponents spot worth successful nan jobs and economical improvement nan task will bring.