In one of the biggest surprises of 2024 the community of South Bruce was not selected to host Canada’s first permanent nuclear waste storage facility.
“We had decisions in the North. We had a good site that met all of our criteria, so it made sense for us to move forward,” said Laurie Swami, CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), on the day of the shocking announcement, in late November.
On November 28, Ignace was selected to permanently house a $26 billion-dollar underground facility to host 6.1 million used nuclear fuel bundles – which is considered to be Canada’s high level nuclear waste. It remains dangerously radioactive, forever.
However, the NWMO also needs to find a permanent home for 50 thousand cubic metres of intermediate level nuclear waste. Things like filters, resins, and pumps used in Canada’s nuclear industry that are still radioactive for hundreds of years, but …