Exploring the Choices for Our Backyard
As we look out over the landscape of Northwestern Ontario, many of us in Melgund Township, Borups Corners, and Dyment are asking the same question: how did we get here? The Nuclear Waste Management Organization recently shared their rationale for choosing the Revell Site as a potential home for a Deep Geological Repository. This is a major part of the ongoing Impact Assessment, and it’s all about the ‘alternatives’—the other paths Canada could have taken to manage its used nuclear fuel.
What We Are Learning
The proponent explains that they didn’t just pick a hole in the ground. They looked at four main options: keeping the waste at existing reactor sites, building a central storage facility above ground, burying it deep in the Canadian Shield, or a mix called ‘Adaptive Phased Management’ (APM). The Nuclear Waste Management Organization chose APM because they say it’s flexible. It’s essentially a plan to build a Deep Geological Repository while promising to learn as they go, keeping the door open to changing the plan if new technology emerges or if we decide we need to pull the waste back up.
The Reality Check
What is being promised: The project is described as ‘adaptive,’ meaning we can retrieve the fuel if we need to and that the rock will act as a ‘passively safe’ barrier for 100,000 years.
What we need to verify: While ‘retrievability’ sounds good, the actual technology to pull heavy containers out of a sealed deep-rock vault hasn’t actually been demonstrated yet. Furthermore, much of the logic for picking this path comes from a study done back in 2005. A lot has changed in Northwestern Ontario since then, from our climate to our local economy.
The Path Forward
The report noted that the ‘no-action’ alternative—simply leaving things as they are—wasn’t even considered because of federal mandates; therefore, we are calling for a modern baseline comparison that shows the actual risks of moving the waste here versus keeping it where it is. Additionally, because the ‘adaptive’ part of the plan relies on being able to retrieve the waste, the community needs a concrete research and development roadmap. We shouldn’t just take it on faith that the technology will exist when we need it; we need to see the testing protocols and success criteria now.
Why It Matters Here
For those of us in Dyment and Borups Corners, this isn’t just a technical choice—it’s about our lifestyle. The Revell Site is near our hunting grounds and the quiet spaces we value. If this becomes a ‘nuclear corridor,’ how does that change the feeling of our community? The NWMO’s current plan relies on the idea that future generations will figure out the final details of closing the site. We need to make sure that ‘phasing’ the project doesn’t just mean passing the buck to our grandkids without giving them the tools to handle it.
Have Your Say
This affects our future. Submit your feedback on this specific issue via our Engage page to ensure the Impact Assessment Agency hears from our community.
The Melgund Integrated Nuclear Impact Assessment Project
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) is reviewing the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) proposed Deep Geological Repository (DGR) at the Revell Site, located near Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation in Northwestern Ontario.
This major nuclear infrastructure project is undergoing a joint federal review by the IAAC and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to evaluate environmental, health, social, and Indigenous rights impacts over its projected 160-year lifecycle.
Public Feedback Open: Comments on the Initial Project Description are accepted until February 4, 2026. Submissions help shape the formal impact assessment guidelines.
This short article and summary is based on an initial analysis of a proponent’s initial project description. It does not represent, any community the NWMO or the Government of Canada. Learn more at the Melgund Integrated Nuclear Impact Assessment Project project page.
About the Author
