Last updated 10/18/2016
Canada's plan for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel involves its containment and isolation at a repository site. Facilities associated with the project will include:
More about Project Facilities
No site has been identified yet. Canada's long-term plan for used nuclear fuel requires that the deep geological repository be located in an area with an informed and willing host at a site that meets rigorous technical and safety criteria.
In 2010, the NWMO began a multi-year site selection process to identify a suitable location for the deep geological repository and Centre of expertise. The process is designed to ensure the site selected is safe and secure, meeting or exceeding all regulatory requirements. Only areas where communities expressed an interest in learning about the project are considered. Over time and through increasingly detailed technical and social studies and engagement, it will become clearer which areas have the strongest potential to safely host the project.
More about Project Facilities, Site Selection
Last updated 3/13/2019
The surface facilities require a dedicated surface area of about 650 metres by 550 metres for the main buildings and about 100 metres by 170 metres for the ventilation exhaust shaft.
The facility will also need a storage area for the excavated rock. Its location (on-site or off-site) and footprint would be determined in collaboration with the community.
Repository designs have been created for planning purposes, but may be subject to change as the project moves forward. According to these initial conceptual designs, the repository will require an underground area of about two kilometres by three kilometres (about 600 hectares or 1,480 acres).
The actual underground footprint at any particular site would depend on a number of factors, including the characteristics of the rock, the location of underground features in the rock, the final design of the repository, and the total inventory of used fuel to be managed.
The majority of the excavated rock from the repository will be stored in an excavated rock management area. A portion of the rock may also be used in backfilling and sealing operations. The remaining rock may have a public or commercial use as aggregate for construction. The use of the excavated rock, and the size and location of the storage area, will be determined in collaboration with the community and surrounding area.
Any site selected for a deep geological repository must be able to safely contain and isolate the used nuclear fuel over many hundreds of thousands of years. To avoid potential intrusion and disturbance by future generations, the repository will not be sited in any area with natural resources such as minerals, oil or gas. An abandoned mine would not meet these site requirements since it could still contain traces of natural resources that could become economically exploitable in the future. The presence of natural resources may also indicate characteristics in the rock formations, such as fractures, which are not suitable for the safe, long-term containment and isolation of the used nuclear fuel.
More about Project Facilities, Environment, Safety and Security, Site Selection
Security at the repository site would include appropriate physical protection, such as fences and security monitoring systems. The facilities where used nuclear fuel would be handled also include physical barriers enhancing security. We are also required to submit security plans to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission before we can obtain licences to operate the repository and transport used nuclear fuel to the facility. These security plans must meet Nuclear Security Regulations to ensure the used fuel receives adequate physical protection against any credible threat. The details of the plans will be fully developed once a site for the repository is selected. Risks and threats will continually be reassessed to make sure security measures are up-to-date and appropriate for the circumstances.
More about Environment, Safety and Security, Project Facilities
No. We are committed to meeting or exceeding all regulatory standards and requirements for protecting the health, safety, and security of workers, the public and the environment. Safety is our number one priority. The deep geological repository must be licensed by Canada's nuclear regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The licensing process is very detailed and covers 14 separate topics associated with safety such as radiation protection, emergency preparedness, environmental protection, and equipment fitness for service. The CNSC assesses licence applications to ensure:
We will need to demonstrate that regulatory requirements in the safety areas will be met for each phase of the project before it can move ahead. In addition to the regulations under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act and other associated nuclear regulations, we will need to comply with other provincial regulations such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act to promote and provide a robust safety culture for workers.
Depending on the location of the repository site, used nuclear fuel can be transported by road, rail or water. All three modes provide for safe and secure transportation around the world. It is expected to take several more years to complete the necessary studies to identify a preferred site and an informed and willing host. At this early stage of assessment, we are looking at road and rail access from the interim storage sites to communities that are engaged in the site selection process. The mode of used fuel transport, potential routes, and the safety and social acceptability of the transportation system will be fully addressed through engagement during the siting process and through the environmental assessment and licensing process. Transportation of used nuclear fuel will need to meet stringent safety requirements set out by Transport Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
More about Transportation, Project Facilities
The used nuclear fuel bundles will arrive at the used fuel packaging plant (UFPP) in transportation containers. The UFPP will be designed to receive and repackage used nuclear fuel into long-lived, corrosion-resistant used fuel containers (UFCs) for placement in the repository.
Fuel bundles will be transferred from transportation containers into UFCs using remote-controlled equipment in protected areas called "hot cells". Workers will work behind shielded walls to perform the various processing steps necessary for fuel transfer, and UFC assembly and inspection.
Shielded frames on automated guide vehicles will move the used fuel containers within the packaging plant to the various processing stations. These processing stations include:
Once the containers have been inspected to ensure they do not have any unacceptable defects or features, they are moved to a storage cell for filled containers before going to a dispatch hall for transfer to the repository.
More about Project Facilities, Transportation
Last updated 6/11/2018
Used nuclear fuel transportation packages are designed and tested to ensure protection of the public during normal operations, as well as during accident conditions. Before a transportation package can be used in Canada, the design must be certified by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to meet regulatory requirements, which incorporate international safety standards, and must withstand severe impact, fire and immersion. Each test is designed to demonstrate the package’s ability to withstand accident conditions without releasing its contents. To gauge the cumulative effects on the transportation package design, the first two tests are conducted in the sequence that will result in the most damage to the package, followed by the thermal test. The immersion test is conducted independently and is designed to evaluate the integrity of the package under pressure. The order and type of tests are considered to correspond to real transport accident scenarios.
We are assessing the transportation of used nuclear fuel using two package designs:
Used Fuel Transportation Package (UFTP) Dry Storage Container Transportation Package (DSC-TP)
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