NORTHERN ONTARIO
International experts share experience with nuclear waste burial projects


Local Journalism Initiative
Tue, April 4, 2023

Three international speakers from Finland, Sweden and the United States were part of an information tour in the Northwest last week to share their experiences with deep geological repositories.

Joanne Jacyk, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s site director for Ignace, said the speakers came to share their personal perspectives about projects at different stages to add to the broader conversation to what it might look like to be a host community for a deep geological repository.

The information tour had multiple sessions in Ignace, as well as Wabigoon Lake First Nation and Dryden. It will continue in southwestern Ontario in the South Bruce area, which is the other candidate site for the deep geological repository.

“If there's a different way we can help support or put information out there and make sure that everybody in the community is accessing information they want and removing any barriers that we can to accessing that information. And removing one of those barriers is bringing in people with international experience that can talk about their experience going through a very similar process,” Jacyk said.

“Our guest from Finland is coming from a more technical perspective. We have a former mayor from Sweden that can really talk about what it's like to be a community member and a community leader going through this decision-making process,” she said. “And then our guest from the U.S. has broad international technical experience and really be able to just bring information and perspective to that conversation so that hopefully people can approach it with curiosity and, and learn something new.”

Tiina Jalonen is a senior vice president and development director of Posiva Oy, a company that is building what will be the world’s first deep geological repository in Finland.

“We in Finland decided in 2000 that deep geological repository is our solution for final disposal of used nuclear fuel,” she said. “We decided and selected the site also in 2000 and, and that was the community supported the decision and the Finnish Parliament made the decision, ratified it in 2001.”

Jalonen said the project broke ground seven years ago with construction of the encapsulation plant, where the used nuclear fuel will be put into the disposal canisters, started in 2019.

“So now the repository is ready to start the operations and we have also constructed the first five deposition tunnels,” she said.

Jacob Spangenberg, the former mayor of Östhammar Municipality in Sweden, shared how his community decided to host its own deep geological repository, which is a few years behind the one in Finland.

“We understood that it was a project that could benefit the municipality and our region and the safety case was always in focus for us,” he said. “So there is no way that we have compromised on the long term safety. And we have realized that it is possible to build a repository within our municipality and still keep the long-term safety.”

He said the process took a long time because building trust takes time.

“We have been working with the process and the project for more than 25 years,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we took our vote in the council with a very strong majority to say yes to the project.”

His advice to other communities regarding the process, is to have a time limit for a decision, but to allow for a lot of time because it’s needed to build understanding and competence with the decision making.

“There is no one else but yourselves that are able to take the decision and understand what is best for you in your local municipality or your local area,” he said.

Spangenberg said the project in his community is about five to six years away from the start of construction.

One common factor between the two locations in Scandinavia, was that both have nuclear reactors in their area.

“Probably in areas that the people are used to having nuclear power from my experience are more familiar with it,” said Jalonen. “Something you don't know, you are some sometimes afraid of, but once you learn more, I don't think that would be an issue.”

Grace Bjorklund, one of the attendees of the luncheon session in Ignace, said she thought it was very informative.

“I've been trying to go to a lot of these meetings as many as I can so I can learn as much as I can about nuclear waste,” she said. “I made up my mind 20 years ago. You can bury the waste in my backyard if you want. I'm very confident that it’s safe and it's done safely and it's beneficial to not just us here in Canada, but the whole world.”

Diana Schmidt is one resident who wants to see information coming from sources other than the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.

“There are so many unanswered questions. So many studies that I feel haven't been done properly,” she said.

"I'm finding that [NWMO] tends to put on their side of the story with everything that they want us to believe. At the same time, here's another side of the story. I think it's all one sided. I've tried to post scientific studies and stuff on Facebook to make people aware. And I feel like I'm being bullied sometimes because of that.”

Eric Shih, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source