Canada's plan

Transportation exhibit attracts Hornepayne students

 Yang Sui, NWMO Mechanical Engineer, talking with elementary school students.

September 29, 2017

Hornepayne

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 Yang Sui, NWMO Mechanical Engineer, talking with elementary school students.

In September, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) transportation exhibit was once again in Hornepayne. This provided an opportunity for NWMO staff to meet with many local students. Several classes from secondary and elementary schools took time for a field trip to see the exhibit where it was set up at the Royal Canadian Legion.

“The transport package is incredibly robust” explained Yang Sui, Mechanical Engineer at NWMO. “It is designed to remain tightly sealed even in severe transportation accidents. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission regulations require transportation packages be tested through drop testing, puncture testing, fire testing, and water immersion testing. Only those packages that meet the regulatory requirements are certified to transport used nuclear fuel. The container on display is one such certified package.” 

The exhibit provides people with a hands-on opportunity to learn more about plans for the safe and secure transportation of Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Students and local residents were able to see how containers are designed to protect people and the environment by withstanding severe accident conditions. 

Made of a solid stainless steel box with walls nearly 30 centimetres thick, a lid attached by 32 seven-kilogram bolts, and an impact limiter, the container is filled with 192 used CANDU fuel bundles. The containers weigh approximately 35,000 kilograms. Safety is built into every element of the transportation system.

“I’m a visual and tactile learner myself, so I know seeing and touching the actual package really helps students understand the technology involved,” Sui added.

The transportation of used nuclear fuel in Canada is a stringently regulated activity involving both Transport Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

For more on the safe and secure transportation of used nuclear fuel, visit Transportation Planning.

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.

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