OPG hopes to have green light on DGR at Bruce site next year

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) hopes to receive a positive response from the federal environment minister sometime next year, paving the way for the proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for low-level and intermediate-level nuclear waste to be built at the Bruce Nuclear site, located in the Municipality of Kincardine.

Kevin Powers of OPG brought an update to Kincardine council, in committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (Nov. 2), outlining not only the work done in response to further information required by the minister, but also the relicensing of the Western Waste Management Facility at the Bruce site which comes up next year.

He said OPG is applying to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commision (CNSC) to renew the facility's licence for the next 10 years. Hearings are slated for April, 2017.

"Our licence application will seek to add capacity due to the Darlington refurbishment and continued operation, the PIckering operation to 2024, and Bruce Power's refurbishment and continued operation," said Powers.

As for the proposed DGR at the Bruce site, Powers said that in February, the federal government requested three additional studies: environmental effects of alternate locations including transportation; update of cumulative effects analysis; and a consolidation of mitigation commitments.

He said OPG examined the environmental effects of the DGR in two different geologic regions, including sedimentary in southern Ontario, and granite/crystalline in northern Ontario.

There were increased environmental impacts with the alternate sites, due to: the acquisition of new land (about eight square kilometres); creation of a new, secure nuclear facility; installation of site infrastructure; additional waste packaging; and transportation.

In addition, Powers said the alternate locations mean more uncertainty, because of: an increase in transportation risks with 22,000 shipments on public roadways over 30 years to the new facility; a multi-billion-dollar cost impact; scheduling and costs arising from siting and licensing requirements; and no assurance of improved safety.

"Ultimately, keeping the DGR at the Bruce Nuclear site remains the preferred plan," said Powers.

Regarding cumulative effects, there would likely be none, he said, since the OPG facility would be operating sooner than the one proposed by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) for used nuclear fuel.

Powers said OPG is on track to provide the requested information to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) in December. The information will also be posted on the OPG website.

CEAA will then announce plans for a public review of OPG's work prior to a decision on the Environmental Assessment, but there would be no further public hearings.

"OPG still believes that the DGR project at the Bruce Nuclear site is the safest, most cost-effective long-term solution for the management of low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste," said Powers.

"So, the CEAA is in charge of the public review?" asked councillor Laura Haight.

"Yes," said Powers. "CEAA will post the information on its website and the public will have the opportunity to look at the documentation and comment on it."

"When will a decision be made?" asked Haight.

"We hope in 2017," said Powers.

"Thank you for your update, with new information for us to consider," said mayor Anne Eadie.

Meanwhile, Monday night (Nov. 7) at the Huron-Kinloss committee-of-the-whole meeting, Fred Kuntz of OPG made the same presentation, outlining that there would be a huge cost impact if OPG must move the proposed DGR to an alternate site - to the tune of $2.5-billion for transportation, and $1-billion for construction.

He said that during the hearings before the Joint Review Panel, OPG made 1,300 mitigation commitments. Of those, 800 were regarding the environment, and have been consolidated to 150 commitments, said Kuntz.

"This information will go to the CEAA in December and be posted for public review," he said. "We don't expect there will be further public hearings. And we expect a decision sometime next year."