The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has been working towards an underground storage facility designed to permanently isolate the most dangerous waste from the environment for thousands of years. This Deep Geological Repository(DGR) is expected to be operational by 2043 at the earliest.

“In December 2025, we highlighted a concerning trend: high and intermediate-level waste from other facilities was being shipped to Chalk River Laboratories, piling up in temporary storage. We remain concerned, especially since a permanent home for this waste is still decades away. “ – Ottawa Riverkeeper

 Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has been quietly consolidating radioactive waste from its facilities across the country at the Chalk River Laboratories site, which is located on the shores of the Ottawa River, roughly 180 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.

CNL is clear that none of this waste is planned to be permanently stored at Chalk River. Unfortunately, there is currently no end date for this “temporary” storage, and neither is there a confirmed destination for the waste.

Interview with Matthew Brocklehurst, Communications Manager, Ottawa Riverkeeper

 By Suzanne Forcese

WT: Please introduce Ottawa Riverkeeper to our viewers.

Brocklehurst: Ottawa Riverkeeper, founded in 2001, is a charitable organization and a champion and collective voice for the Ottawa River watershed, providing leadership and inspiration to protect, promote and improve its ecological health and future.

 Expert and independent, our organization advocates for responsible and participatory decision-making, public education, access to information, and compliance with protective regulations. Guided by a science-based approach, we provide clear information with the aim to engage the public and empower citizens and decision-makers to ensure clean, healthy, and accessible water for all people and species.

WT: Please comment on the history of Ottawa Riverkeeper's involvement with Chalk River & radioactive waste disposal, including Ottawa Riverkeeper’s interactions with policy makers.

Brocklehurst: Ottawa Riverkeeper has been tracking the activities and risks associated with the Chalk River Laboratories for many years. We are members of Chalk River Laboratories’ Environmental Stewardship Council (ESC). Through participation in the ESC, we have learned a great deal about operations at CNL and the waste that has accumulated at the site over its lifetime. We have visited the site on many occasions.

We were very active on the issue of the NSDF facility, submitting detailed comments and bringing on experts to evaluate the proposal through multiple rounds of reviews. We participated in the hearings and have also supported Indigenous communities in their demands for robust consultations on the project.

 We were also active during the review of Canada's Radioactive Waste Policy, putting forward recommendations and meeting with representatives from Natural Resources Canada on multiple occasions to lay out our priorities. We continue to push for increased scrutiny and more robust regulation on the disposal of radioactive material in Canada.

WT: What is happening at Chalk River Laboratories that is of huge concern?

Brocklehurst: Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has been quietly consolidating radioactive waste from its facilities across the country at the Chalk River Laboratories site. This includes intermediate-level waste and high-level waste in the form of used nuclear fuel from the decommissioned Gentilly Nuclear Generating Station in Bécancour, Quebec, and future transportation of waste from Whiteshell Laboratories in Pinawa, Manitoba.

Our concerns stem from the fact that there is currently no permanent solution to this waste. This means that the transport, which is risky itself, is being done to temporarily house the waste at Chalk River, with more and more waste building up in temporary storage at a site not suitable for the storage of this type of waste.

Additionally, even if a Deep Geological Repository is sited and constructed, there will likely not be enough room for all the waste being shipped to Chalk River.

Given that it will be in temporary storage for some time, it is unclear why waste could not be kept at their original locations at the decommissioned sites until transported to its final destination, to avoid the risk of transporting it twice.

WT: Why is the NSDF controversial?

Brocklehurst: The Near Surface Disposal Facility is an engineered mound built at the Chalk River Laboratories site intended to permanently house low-level radioactive waste as a means of disposal. It is controversial for many reasons, the primary being its proximity to the Ottawa River, which it would put at risk were there ever to be a containment failure.

 Other concerns include:

• A lack of consultation with Anishinābeg Algonquin communities in the region about the project
• the nature of the wastewater treatment plant for the facility
• the adequacy of the ongoing monitoring being proposed.

 (Please see additional resources below)

WT: What is the NWMO? What is the purpose of the DGR?

Brocklehurst: The NWMO is an arms-length organization that is responsible for overseeing used fuel waste from nuclear energy, as set out under the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act.

 The DGR is meant to provide permanent storage for high-level fuel-related waste. The current proposal, which has not been granted approval to date, will not be able to address the volume of fuel waste that needs permanent storage, requiring additional sites to be sited and developed at the same time as nuclear energy is being promoted.

 The length of time required to properly site, complete a proposal process, and build a sufficient facility will take decades.

 Currently, the NWMO is focused on fuel waste storage, but with the new radioactive waste policy, they now must also find a permanent solution for intermediate and low-level wastes that are being stockpiled in locations like Chalk River Laboratories.

WT: Please comment on Canada's Nuclear Waste Policy and how Ottawa Riverkeeper has become involved.

Brocklehurst: In late March 2023, Natural Resources Canada quietly released the long-awaited final version of the Federal Government’s new Radioactive Waste Policy. Ottawa Riverkeeper had been involved in making recommendations and submitting comments on the policy for many years, since we first launched a campaign to push for more robust policies in 2020.

 Unfortunately, while the new policy addresses non-fuel-related waste, it did not meet our hopes for greater freshwater protections, nor did it provide clarity on how low and intermediate-waste should be addressed. These missing pieces include: gaps in transparency, weak proposals for reviews of the policy, no firm waste classification criteria, and few enforcement mechanisms.

WT: What are your concerns about transparency?

Brocklehurst: Following this issue is extremely challenging. There are many administrative opportunities to participate, but the licensing processes or project approval and/or oversight activities can feel quite opaque, and how decisions are made is not clear. Furthermore, as proponents move towards longer licensing agreements and the regulator adopts an approach to have hearings determined by written submissions, there are fewer opportunities to participate in these processes. We remain concerned about the lack of transparency of what occurs on these sites over time and the confidence proponents have in remaining within their licensed activities, given how vague these agreements are. 

WT: What can be done?

Brocklehurst: Ottawa Riverkeeper continues to be involved in these issues, following along with new developments to do with waste policy and projects at the Chalk River Laboratories site. We keep open dialogues with decision makers and elected officials around the issue of radioactive waste in the Ottawa River watershed. Residents who want to follow along with our work can sign up for our newsletter.

 Related:

 Concerns about location

Comments on Project Proposal Submitted to CNSC

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