IGNACE – The Northwest township on the shortlist for hosting nuclear waste disposal is looking for three more residents to join its Willingness Committee.
The Willingness Committee, also called the Ignace Community Nuclear Liaison Committee, is a panel of residents exploring whether people in Ignace would welcome having a nuclear waste repository in the area.
The Ignace-Wabigoon Lake area is one of just two finalists as the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) decides on a site for a deep geological repository (DGR) in which to store spent nuclear fuel. The other finalist is the South Bruce area in southwestern Ontario.
The NWMO’s decision on a DGR site is slated for late 2024, with construction likely starting about 10 years later and taking years to complete after that.
The process for recruiting three new committee members of the willingness committee began immediately after Ignace council passed a resolution on Dec. 7 directing staff to find new people to join the six already on the panel.
The deadline for expressing interest in joining the committee, initially set for Dec. 22, was extended last week to 3 p.m. on Jan. 12.
Ignace residents who are interested in being part of the Willingness Committee are asked to contact Keith Roseborough, the municipality’s community development strategist, at the township office.
Their expression of interest should answer the question, “Why do you believe you should be selected to the Willingness Committee of the Township of Ignace?”
The Willingness Committee’s work is part of a process that started more than 10 years ago, after Ignace expressed an interest in being a host community for Canada’s first DGR and a related “Centre for Expertise.”
Another component in the process is the ongoing work of With Chela Inc., a consulting firm hired in 2023 by the township to conduct a study into the level of community willingness for hosting the NWMO facility.
With Chela’s “engagement team” of five launched their “willingness study” in November when they knocked on doors and spoke with Ignace residents. They have another visit to Ignace scheduled for late January.
In the meantime, residents can get in touch with the team via a toll-free number (1-877-473-4090) or www.yourchoiceignace.ca.
Ignace residents aged 16 and up are entitled to register online for the study, which is designed to learn about the community’s openness to hosting a DGR.
Those without an internet connection or who need assistance registering online can reach out to the With Chela team for assistance, With Chela owner Chela Breckon told NWOnewswatch in mid-December.
She added that an instructional video will be launched soon on the Your Choice Ignace website.
The engagement team will deliver a final report to the township next summer, she said.
With Chela’s work was preceded in 2021 by studies to determine how the community will decide whether it truly wants to host the NWMO’s DGR operations.
Toronto-based Hardy Stevenson and Associates, a public affairs consultancy, reported then that the decision should be left to the community in a “fair, transparent, balanced, confidential and inclusive” process.
Established in 2002 and funded by nuclear power producers, the NWMO is mandated to implement an “adaptive phased management” approach to long-term storage of spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear reactors.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s website says the solution is to be “socially acceptable, technically sound, environmentally responsible, and economically feasible for Canadians.”
The solution the NWMO came up with is a DGR – a facility hundreds of metres below ground level for the long-term storage of reactor waste.
Finland is set to have the world’s first operational DGR in 2024, on the Nordic country’s west coast near its Olkiluoto power plant.
Ten Ignace residents, along with delegates from Lac Seul First Nation, Atikokan and Dryden, toured the Finnish DGR and power plant in early November.
Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation members toured the facilities in the summer.
The NWMO paid for the Finland trips and has funded all parts of the willingness process. It has also paid for, among other things, a $689,000 fire truck and a $54,000 pickup truck for Ignace.
