Community Matters: Safety First

Our No. 1 focus at Bruce Power is protecting the people who work on our site every day, doing everything we can to make sure they go home to their families and friends after their shift.

That “Safety First” approach extends to protecting the people in our local communities, and to protecting the environment. That’s why we reacted immediately and put several measures in place with safety in mind when the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic changed our lives back in March.

As one of the world’s leading producers of nuclear energy and medical isotopes, it’s important for Bruce Power to be a leader in incorporating environmental, social and economic considerations in every decision we make. Our Life-Extension Program, which began almost five years ago, will allow Bruce Power to continue providing Ontarians with clean, reliable electricity to 2064 and beyond. It will create thousands of jobs and funnel billions of dollars into our regional, provincial and national economies.

Providing reliable electricity, creating and sustaining jobs, and sparking major investment can’t come at the expense of the environment. Public safety and protecting our environment must continue to be a leading priority for the nuclear power industry, which has a vital role to play in the fight against climate change.

Last month, Seamus O’Regan, federal minister of natural resources, put in blunt terms nuclear’s role in a greener tomorrow, when he addressed an international conference on clean energy.

“We need to invest in all kinds of green energy technologies in order to meet our climate goals,” he said. “So, in Canada that’s what we’re doing at nuclear energy; it's front and centre.”

Waste is generated across all walks of life, including the nuclear power industry, and there’s a strong commitment between Bruce Power and our partners at Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to use the latest innovation and technology while working with other partners to reuse, reduce and recycle.

One of those partners is the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), which is responsible for safely managing Canada’s used nuclear fuel. The NWMO is currently responsible for the implementation of a phased-in program that’s consistent with the best practices adopted by other countries with nuclear power programs, including Finland, Sweden, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Used nuclear fuel would be contained and isolated in a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) in an area with suitable geology and a willing host. The Municipality of South Bruce and Ignace, a community in northwestern Ontario, have been identified as the two most suitable candidates to store Canada’s used nuclear fuel over the long-term.

The NWMO is currently engaged in ongoing technical site evaluation work and continued engagement with the municipal and indigenous communities in the two potential locations. The NWMO expects to identify a single, preferred location for a DGR by 2023.

We believe a DGR is the safest way to store this used fuel. We wholeheartedly support everyone with a stake in the location of the DGR participating in the process, and we encourage everyone to obtain as much information as possible. A good place to start is the NWMO’s website at www.nwmo.ca.

As always, please contact me at james.scongack@brucepower.com if you have any questions. You can also follow me on Twitter @jscongack.