Nuclear Waste On-line 2022 | Hot Potatoes: Repackaging Radioactive Wastes

The NWMO’s plan to bury all of Canada’s high level radioactive waste in a central location will require that the wastes be transferred at least twice: once at the reactor station and then again when it reaches the (still hypothetical) location of the deep geological repository. The NWMO has released only very limited descriptions for the repackaging plant and other “surface facilities”, including ventilation shafts, but their scant descriptions and international experience indicate that these will be sources of radioactive releases and new radioactive wastes.