Nuclear waste organization narrows list of potential northwestern Ontario storage sites

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has shortened the list of potential northwestern Ontario storage sites for spent nuclear fuel to just one.

Ignace is the only spot in northwestern Ontario still being considered as a possible storage site, the NWMOsaid Tuesday.

Two sites in southern Ontario the Township of Huron-Kinloss, and the Municipality of South Bruce are also still in consideration, the NWMO said.

The NWMO said it will conduct further testing at all three sites, in hopes of identifying a single, preferred site by 2023.

"As we work towards identifying a single, preferred location for this project, in an area with informed and willing hosts, we need to increasingly focus on specific locations that have strong potential to meet the project's safety and partnership requirements," Mahrez Ben Belfadhel, NWMO vice-president of site selection, said in a statement."These are hard decisions and not made lightly, but ultimately, we are working towards identifying one area where we can implement Canada's plan to ensure the protection of both people and the environment."

The site selection process has been ongoing since 2010.