Selecting a site

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The NWMO has been engaged in a multi-year, community-driven process to identify a site that will safely contain and isolate Canada’s used nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository.

We initiated the site selection process in 2010. Over the following two years, 22 municipalities and Indigenous communities voluntarily expressed interest in learning more and exploring their potential to host the project. We gradually narrowed our focus to two potential sites through extensive social engagement and technical site evaluations to assess the safety of those sites and transportation of used nuclear fuel to them, and the potential to build supportive and resilient partnerships. Both potential sites are in Ontario – one in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON)-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and one in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON)-South Bruce area in southern Ontario.

Throughout 2022, we implemented more detailed technical evaluations at both potential sites and engaged in meaningful discussions with communities around partnerships and community well-being investments.

As we advance the siting process, we maintain the fundamental principle that the project will only proceed in an area with informed and willing hosts, where the municipality, First Nation and Métis communities, and others in the area are working together to implement it.