NWMO open houses in Lucknow to focus on borehole drilling

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is holding two open houses in Lucknow, with the focus on finding the appropriate site in Huron-Kinloss for initial research borehole drilling.

The public is encouraged to attend and learn more about the process, and provide input. The open houses will be held at the Lucknow Community Centre, Tuesday, Nov. 1, from 1-8 p.m.; and Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Huron-Kinloss is one of eight sites still under consideration for a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. Also still in the preliminary assessment stage, are South Bruce, Central Huron, Elliot Lake, Blind River, White River, Hornepayne, Manitouwadge and Ignace.

The NWMO has opened a new office in Ripley, just across from Lewis Park, and local media was invited there Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 19, to discuss the proposed borehole drilling in Ripley. The office is open Wednesday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Marie Wilson, media relations manager, and Paul Austin, relationship manager, with NWMO, welcomed the press, and noted that the NWMO has had an office in Ripley for the past three years, but moved to the corner of Queen and Huron Streets, during the summer.

The focus for this week's open houses will be gathering public input for the proper location to do the initial borehole drilling, said Wilson. This is strictly for research purposes and is not expected to be a repository site.

The borehole drilling was discussed at the Huron-Kinloss general committee meeting Oct. 3. At that point, geoscientist Ben Belfadhel of NWMO, stated that initial field studies have been done, but further studies are required, including the borehole drilling, to assess in more detail, the geology of smaller areas identified within the community as potentially suitable to host a repository.

Key factors for the drilling site, he said, are: size requirement (minimum one acres); compliance with regulatory setbacks (ie. from dwellings, watercourses power lines, roads, etc., with approval from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources); and current land use (eg. parks, playgrounds, etc.).

The NWMO had identified five possible locations, but township council narrowed that down to just three: the Kinloss gravel pit, the Kinloss landfill site, and the proposed industrial park in Ripley.

Once a site is selected, drilling could begin as early as next year. The borehole will be 680-810 metres deep, and about three inches in diameter. The drill site will be 60-metres-by-60-metres in size, equal to two NHL-sized hockey rinks side-by-side.

Open houses for South Bruce, also pertaining to borehole drilling, are planned for Nov. 3-4, at the Mildmay Carrick Recreation Complex.

Huron-Kinloss and South Bruce are currently in Phase 2 of the preliminary assessment portion of the Adaptive Phased Management process for site selection of a DGR for used nuclear fuel. This phase is expected to take another six to seven years to complete. From there, the NWMO would have one site chosen and would enter the detailed site characterization phase of the project.

Back in April when the media had a tour of the Western Waste Management Facility at the Bruce Nuclear site, NWMO senior communications specialist, Mike Krizanc, said construction of this DGR project is decades away. The expectation is to have the selection narrowed down to one site by 2023, and then conduct five more years of detailed characterization study, at a cost of $200-million.

The DGR, itself, would cost $21-billion (estimated in 2010 dollars) and would provide an average of 1,410 jobs per year during construction; and 1,980 jobs per year during operation. In both cases, this includes direct, indirect and induced employment.