Canada's plan

The NWMO Signs Co-Operation Agreements With International Partners

Two people seated at a table preparing to sign papers.

NWMO president and CEO, Laurie Swami (right), with Thomas Ernst, CEO of Nagra (Switzerland), in Toronto on May 14, 2018.

May 14, 2018

Toronto

Share
Two people seated at a table preparing to sign papers.

NWMO president and CEO, Laurie Swami (right), with Thomas Ernst, CEO of Nagra (Switzerland), in Toronto on May 14, 2018.

Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has signed or renewed co-operation agreements with counterparts from five countries: Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The NWMO is committed to international knowledge sharing, and these agreements join accords already in place with nuclear waste organizations in Finland, South Korea and Japan.

 

“As our work to identify a single, preferred site for a deep geological repository intensifies, now is the perfect time to renew and sign knowledge-sharing agreements with our international partners,” said Laurie Swami, President and CEO of the NWMO. “These agreements ensure we are applying the best international practice to Canada’s plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel, and sharing our experience with our global counterparts.”

 

The new agreements were the focus of a signing ceremony at the opening reception for the 2018 EDRAM annual meeting, hosted this year by the NWMO in Toronto. EDRAM is the International Association for Environmentally Safe Disposal of Radioactive Materials, an organization that promotes the exchange of knowledge among member countries.

 

Kim Rudd, Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr, provided remarks at the signing ceremony and expressed appreciation for the NWMO’s leadership in promoting international co-operation. “As it makes steady progress in implementing Canada’s plan, I am pleased that the NWMO is sharing Canadian research and innovation with the rest of the world, and learning from the experiences and knowledge of other countries. Collaboration of this sort is vital in the global imperative to safely manage used nuclear fuel to protect people and the environment.”

 

The EDRAM annual meeting consists of two days of meetings, and will conclude with a tour of the NWMO’s proof-of-concept test facility in Oakville, where delegates will see first-hand some of the Canadian technology and research underway.
About the NWMO

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel inside a deep geological repository, in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come.

Founded in 2002, the NWMO has been guided for more than 20 years by a dedicated team of world-class scientists, engineers and Indigenous Knowledge Holders that are developing innovative and collaborative solutions for nuclear waste management. Canada’s plan will only proceed in an area with informed and willing hosts, where the municipality, First Nation and Métis communities, and others in the area are working together to implement it. The NWMO plans to select a site in 2024, and two areas remain in our site selection process: the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario.

Sign up for NWMO news and updates

Subscribe and receive NWMO news, reports, updates and more delivered to your inbox.