Initial Project description DGR

Transportation of used fuel is integral to the Impact Assessment (IA) of the proposed Deep Underground Repository (DGR) project by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). An accurate estimate of both the danger and cost of this DGR to the public should be subject to parliamentary approval. This is a forever decision.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Council (CNSC) is the gatekeeper of news releases relating to transport accidents involving nuclear substances. The author has found two accidents; one recent and another east of Dryden on Hwy 11, closer to the Revell Lake site for the planned DGR. Online, it is rare to find public reporting of nuclear transport accidents. Worse, there is a complete absence of any investigative journalism. We The Nuclear Free North does maintain In-Depth: Transportation Risks at:

https://wethenuclearfreenorth.ca/nuclear-waste-information/transportation-risks/

On January 15, 2026 just ten days after the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

(IAAC) excluded the issue of transportation under the IA, there was a multi vehicle accident with one transport containing “nuclear substances”. It was on Hwy 401 during a snow storm near Landsdowne, Ontario, a picturesque community and gateway to the Thousand Islands. One of transports contained nuclear substances in two long cylindrical containers (barrels or drums). The NWMO often tells us nuclear waste is never transported in barrels (drums). One child was seriously injured along several other adults. Fortunately, there was no release of radioactive substances as reported by the OPP and in a news release by the Brockvilleist in the link below.

https://brockvilleist.com/2026/01/16/opp-confirm-nuclear-material-was-involved-in-highway-401-crash-near-lansdowne-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

However, a number of questions arise? Why were nuclear substances being transported in a snowstorm? What were the radioactive isotopes in the cylinders (barrels or drums)? What kind of cylindrical containers are they and have they been tested? Were the transport drivers and carrier trained to safely handle and transport nuclear materials and what to do in case of the loss of containment and a radioactive release? Were the trucks and cylinders identified as carrying radioactive substances? Was there a manifest accompanying the shipment? Was the accident reported to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and will there be an investigation with publicly posted results? Will recommendations be made to ensure future safety?

An earlier nuclear transport accident that happened near Dryden on the 2^nd of May 2001 was reported by CBC News on the 3^rd of May, 2001. Two transport trucks collided head on in a fiery crash that killed 4 drivers and shut down the highway. One of the trucks was carrying Iridium. The main danger of iridium comes from its radioactive isotope, iridium-192 (Ir-192), used in industrial radiography and cancer treatment which emits dangerous gamma radiation. While there was some surface contamination on the highway which was bulldozed to a ditch, the containers luckily held. The word “luckily” is used because in photographs the containers appeared badly charred.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/trans-canada-crash-kills-four-1.273815

A report on the accident obtained from the CNSC revealed the transport truck carrying the iridium in two 650 litre source changers (containers) did not have radiation warning signs. The drivers were not trained in the handling and transport of radioactive materials. The charred source changers were packaged in a steel drum (barrel) and taken away by police escort to the RCMP detachment in Thunder Bay. It took nearly 13 hours for a representative from the CNSC to visit the site. What would have happened if there was a release? Did the report lead to recommendations for safer transport in the future?

While the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigates various transport modes, the regulatory oversight for the packaging and transport of nuclear substances in Canada is primarily handled by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in conjunction with Transport Canada. It appears that any reports, usually from the OPP, go first to CNSC before they may or may not be released to the TSB and the public.

Readers should also be aware that based on the Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act (NLCA) in Canada, individuals are not explicitly "prohibited" by the Act itself from contacting their automobile insurer, but they are functionally excluded from using standard automobile insurance for damages resulting from a nuclear incident because such incidents are excluded from standard auto policies.

Recommendations are made to include transportation in the Impact Assessment (IA) of the proposed DGR. The Impact Assessment Act requires that activities which are "incidental" to the project be part of the assessment. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has been describing it as part of the DGR project for 20 years. Obviously, without transportation there would be no waste to put in the DGR. New radioactive wastes (salt and liquid) from so called Small Nuclear Reactors (SMR's) will pose particular storage, packaging, handling and security challenges. Ideally, the phaseout of this expensive and dangerous nuclear industry will begin.

The following recommendations are made for consideration under the Impact Assessment of the DGR:

1. That transportation of nuclear waste be included in the impact assessment of the DGR.

2. That the Auditor General of Canada make an independent evaluation of both the safety and costs of transporting radioactive waste including alternative storage close to the nuclear reactors and determine if contributions to the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Long-Term Radioactive Waste Fund will cover commercial costs of the disposal of wastes whose ownership is being transferred to the Federal Government and that these findings result in a bill to be debated in the Federal House of Commons.

3.That a fair public process be undertaken in the IA of this DGR including transportation with consideration to the recommendations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and that the principles of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) be upheld.

The first public comment period for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization's (NWMO) Deep Geological Repository (DGR) impact assessment closes soon on February 4, 2026. At the time of writing, no hardcopies of the lengthy DGR project description were made available to public libraries outside of the Township of Ignace and the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation but are available to submit a comment online online to:

https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/88774?culture=en-CA