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, and over the subsequent 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. This was done through extensive social engagement to assess the potential to build supportive and resilient partnerships within the areas. We also completed technical site evaluations to assess the safety of those sites and ability to transport used nuclear fuel to them. Both potential sites are in Ontario: one in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and one in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario.

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.