IGNACE — The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is looking for a firm to design its Centre of Expertise, but NWMO regional spokesperson Vince Ponka says the building is for all of Ignace.
“This is a building that will house NWMO offices and we'll do a lot of research there, but we also want it to be something that the municipality of Ignace will find useful,” Ponka told Newswatch on Thursday after the nuclear agency issued a request for proposals to design the centre.
He said the roughly 100,000-square-foot facility, which the NWMO plans to have constructed by 2028, will be a prominent landmark in the township along Highway 17.
“So what would residents of Ignace like to see in a new building like that?”
At Tuesday’s open house in the township’s rec centre, he said, some people suggested the centre could have “a small auditorium where they could have maybe small concerts or lectures.”
The Centre of Expertise should both serve NWMO purposes and be important for the whole community, he said.
A news release said the federally mandated, industry-funded NWMO “is prioritizing local and Indigenous vendors in the evaluation criteria, on a sliding scale based on proximity to Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and the township of Ignace.”
Wabigoon Lake is the designated host First Nation while Ignace is the host municipality for the deep geological repository (DGR) that the NWMO hopes to eventually construct 35 kilometres west of Ignace.
A location between Ignace and Dryden was selected last year for the proposed DGR, underground chambers for the long-term placement of spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear power plants.
The project must clear regulatory and licensing hurdles before construction can begin, possibly in the early 2030s.
The expertise centre will be planned within “an Indigenous Knowledge and Reconciliation framework,” according to the NWMO’s news release.
The request for proposals is open until June 13, with the NWMO saying it expects to award the design contract in July.
“The Centre of Expertise will be home to hundreds of high-value jobs, will provide educational opportunities across the region, and is expected to attract Canadian and international visitors,” NWMO president and CEO Laurie Swami is quoted as saying in the release.
“This is one of the most tangible benefits and most exciting commitments made by the NWMO to the communities hosting the deep geological repository, and we can’t wait to see it spring to life in the coming years.”
