Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization, the nonprofit responsible for long-term management of the country’s used nuclear power plant fuel, picked has selected companies to plan, design, build and manage a deep geological repository in northwestern Ontario, with an estimated initial $3.2-billion construction cost.

It will be the country’s first such spent fuel storage site. 

The team includes Montreal-based WSP for design and engineering; Kiewit’s Canada unit for above-ground construction; Mississauga, Ontario-based Hatch Ltd. for underground mine and waste rock management and other work;Thyssen Mining Construction of Canada Ltd. in Saskatchewan to handle underground mine construction design and sinking of three shafts into the repository. and Toronto-based Kinectrics Inc. for nuclear operations management, oversight and quality assurance. 

The repository site on tribal land 200 kilometers northwest of Lake
Superior was chosen last year after a nearly 15-year search.

The team will use the integrated project delivery model, according to WSP. Design is set to complete by 2028, with construction to begin by 2033 after review by Canadian and indigenous regulators, and operation startup in 2045. The repository will be built to a depth of between 2,100 ft and 2,600 ft below ground with engineered and natural barriers to contain and isolate used fuel.

The non-profit was set up by Canada nuclear power generators Hydro-Québec, Ontario Power Generation and New Brunswick Power to find a long term spent fuel repository site to replace current temporary storage at reactor and research sites. 

“This project will solve an environmental issue and supports Canada’s climate change goals,” said the non-profit’s President and CEO Laurie Swami.