Ignace residents hear from environmental, nuclear officials

IGNACE — Officials from the organizations that will decide whether a proposed nuclear waste site gets greenlit made their first trip to Ignace.

Representatives from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) were in the Northwestern Ontario township on Monday and Tuesday for a series of three public engagement sessions over the two days.

“One of my favourite parts of doing this work is getting to work with community members and help them to understand what they want to see is in the assessment,” said Kathryn MacCarthy, a panel manager with the impact assessment agency who is assigned to the deep geological repository project.

“And help them to learn how to comment in a way that we can use those comments and where we can really, at the end, see differences that were made because people got involved.”

The nuclear safety commission is working in tandem with the impact assessment agency and, should the deep geological repository get the go-ahead as a result of the impact assessment process, the commission then has to decide whether to issue a licence to prepare the site, said John Thelen, the major projects director for the CNSC’s strategic support division.

That licence, he added, is the first of several the project would require over its lifespan.

“We’re really just here to better communicate what our role is through all stages of a project like this,” he said. “(And) communicate how they can reach out to us and also how to reach out for this specific project using new information that’s available online to submit comments with regards to the integrated assessment.”

The Jan. 19 forum was held as a lunch-and-learn-style event at the community’s Silver Tops Seniors Centre. The two organizations outlined their roles, gave an overview of the proposed repository they’re reviewing, explained the steps in the assessment process, how the public can participate (including during the current comment period), and how people and organizations can provide “meaningful input.”

Officials said that being as specific as possible when commenting on the project is preferred. A presentation slide used a hypothetical example of someone being concerned about fish populations, citing how often they fish, why they’re concerned and wanting to know whether the project would impact the number of species or their safety for eating.

That was juxtaposed against an unhelpful example of simply saying one supports or opposes the project, adding nothing else.

As of the public sessions in Ignace, the assessment process is still in its “planning phase,” MacCarthy said, which effectively means the regulators are still determining the scope and depth of what the years-long review will look like, the guidelines for it and what further studies and information the Nuclear Waste Management Organization — the project’s proponent — would have to do and gather.

That process officially began with the Jan. 5 posting of the NWMO’s initial project description and the first public comment period, which closes at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 4. The overall planning phase has a legislated duration of 180 days, will include another public comment window on draft assessment guidelines, and, MacCarthy said, will culminate in the final scope of what further information the assessors will require the NWMO to gather for review.

After their presentation, the representatives took questions from the audience. One question dealt with the length of the initial 30-day comment period, with MacCarthy stressing that the window is “just the very start of this process.”

“Right now, we don’t have a whole lot of information, we haven’t told the NWMO what to study yet,” she told the crowd of about 35 people. “We’re just trying to start that process, see where we are right now, so people can be involved right from the beginning all the way through.”

A final decision on whether the deep geological repository goes ahead or not is expected to take about four-and-a-half years, MacCarthy said.

“There’s a lot of opportunities along the way,” she said of hearing further from the public.

Other questions dealt with how participant funding for individuals and not-for-profits in the impact assessment process is accessed, the agency’s experience with reviewing large projects and how transportation of the spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear plants would be addressed as part of the project review.

In its initial project description, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization submitted that aspect doesn’t need to be covered, as existing rules and regulations cover it. Project opponents don’t agree.

MacCarthy said it’s not up to the agencies to actively take a side, rather the current planning phase will determine whether that aspect will ultimately be included in a full impact assessment.

Two more public sessions by the impact assessment agency and the nuclear safety commission in Ignace were scheduled for Jan. 20 at the Ignace Recreation Centre.