Deep Geological Repository: Full assessment including transportation needed!

Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign’s submission re the DGR Initial Project Description

Deadline: Feb 4

Submitted by

OCEC, Ontario Climate Emergency Campaign

Phase: Planning

Public Notice: - Comments invited on the summary of the Initial Project Description and funding available

Attachment(s): N/A

Date Submitted: 2026-02-02___  

Full assessment including transportation needed!

Deep Geological Repository (DGR) for Canada’s Used Nuclear Fuel Project 

Thank you for the opportunity to respond. The Initial Project Description (IPD) does not consider transportation risks. The NWMO’s plan involves 2 to 3 shipments per day for more than 50 years, with each truck hauling 35 tonnes of radioactive waste per trip. There is no comparable or near-comparable international experience to this massive, long-term, high-volume transportation program and the additional climate impacts of the program and the risks more generally, have not been justified. In fact, if the purpose is to isolate the wastes from the environment, that purpose could be met through alternatives to the project and alternative means of carrying out the project which have not been described in the IPD. In addition, there is no level of exposure to ionizing radiation that does not pose an associated risk to human health. The IPD lacks one of the essential elements of project planning and monitoring--a detailed budget and especially a specified cost to the taxpayer.  In sum, the profound shortcomings of the IPD are most productively taken as a warning to abandon nuclear power generation in favour of more affordable, more readily available, and much safer renewable power generation.