Recent Waste Management Developments in Canada. WATEC 5, 2005 June 6-10

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1 Recent Waste Management Developments in Canada WATEC 5, 2005 June 6-10 Dr. M. Stephens Manager, Systems & Processes Liability Management Unit Contents Recent Developments and Achievements Needs and Current Issues Possible Implications for IAEA 2 page 1

2 Recent Developments and Achievements NWMO recommendation on long-term management of used nuclear fuel OPG Kincardine Project for disposal of utility LILW LLRWMO Port Hope & Port Granby Projects for long-term management of uranium refinery waste AECL decommissioning at its laboratory sites 3 Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) Established in 2002 November Managed by nuclear utilities, funded by used fuel owners (utilities and AECL) Mandate: Evaluate approaches to long-term management of used fuel: Deep geological disposal in the Canadian Shield Storage at nuclear reactor sites Centralized storage, above or below ground Possibly other approaches Recommend an approach to the federal government by 2005 November 15 4 page 2

3 Draft NWMO Recommendation (2005 May) Adaptive Phased Management Containment & isolation in central deep geologic repository in crystalline or sedimentary rock Year 30, at repository site: Underground Research Laboratory starts operations Option: shallow rock cavern starts receiving fuel for interim storage Years 60-90: repository accepting used fuel Continuous monitoring and potential retrievability until decision on closure and postclosure monitoring 5 NWMO APM Schedule 6 page 3

4 NWMO Recommendation Draft recommendation and rationale in Choosing a Way Forward (300 p.) at Final recommendation by 2005 Nov. 15 NWMO will implement approach federal government chooses 7 Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Kincardine Initiative Disposal facility for Low and Intermediate Level Wastes (LILW) Discussions with local community demonstrate acceptance of the concept Formal licensing has yet to begin Hosting Agreement 8 page 4

5 OPG Kincardine Initiative Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) on the 900 ha Bruce Nuclear site ~225 km northwest of Toronto Horizontal emplacement rooms, at a depth of ~660 m in laterally extensive limestone formation, directly overlain by 200 m of shale Low-permeability diffusion-controlled geosphere immediately surrounding the repository will assure long-term isolation of the LILW 9 Kincardine Initiative - Wastes OPG s LILW comes primarily from operating 20 nuclear reactors at Pickering, Bruce and Darlington stations ~5,000-7,000 m³ of new waste is reduced to 2,000-3,000 m³, and stored at the WWMF (at Bruce site) If the 20 reactors operate 40 a, they will generate ~95,000 m 3 (as-stored volume) of LILW decommissioning of the reactors and associated nuclear waste storage facilities will generate ~108,000 m 3 of additional LILW 10 page 5

6 Kincardine Initiative - Facility 11 Kincardine Initiative - Hosting Agreement Financial compensation ($35.7M CDN 2004) to the Municipality of Kincardine and four surrounding municipalities Lump sum payments for achieving specific project milestones, and annual payments to each municipality Payments contingent on municipalities acting reasonably and in good faith during the licencing process Property Value Protection Plan to compensate residents for any depreciation in property value directly resulting from a release from the facility 12 page 6

7 Kincardine Initiative - Schedule 13 Kincardine Initiative - Costs 14 page 7

8 Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office (LLRWMO) Canada s agent for the cleanup and long-term management of historic low-level radioactive wastes (LLRW) that are a federal responsibility The LLRWMO is also responsible for: establishing user-pay LLRW disposal facilities addressing general public information needs about LLRW analyzing issues associated LLRW, and providing technical advice to the Government of Canada on the latest national and international developments 15 Historic LLRW in Canada Canada is the second-largest country in the world Population: 32,207,113 (July 2003 est.) Land 9,976,140 sq km 5,514 km from east to west, 1/4 of the distance around the world, and 4,634 km from north to south, almost 1/2 of the distance from the pole to the equator. Northern Transportation Route Fort McMurray 1 Surrey Scarborough Port Hope page 8

9 Total LLRW in Canada: about 2.6 million m % 1% 66.67% 27.33% 3.78% Decommisioning Radioisotope Production & Use Research & Development Nuclear Fuel Cycle Historic Waste 17 Environmental Restoration, Federal Sites New commercial business at site cleaned up in Fort McMurray Fort McMurray, Alberta LLRW clean-up at former staging site for U-ore shipments Completed LLRW Management Facility in Fort McMurray 18 page 9

10 Aerial View of Port Hope Area 19 Port Hope (Town) Waste Sites 20 page 10

11 Land Restoration, Port Hope & Area Conceptual design of proposed Port Granby LLRW Management Facility Welcome LLRW Management Facility Conceptual design of proposed Port Hope LLRW Management Facility 21 The 60-year Nuclear Legacy Managed by AECL Numerous Sites Research laboratories Prototype reactor sites Heavy water plants Radioactive Waste Solids Liquids/sludges Nuclear Facilities & Buildings On-site experimental reactors Radiochemical facilities/laboratories Waste Management Areas/Contaminated Lands 22 page 11

12 Decommissioning Activities at AECL Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River, Ontario Part of continuing renewal of the research site Buildings and other structures Areas of legacy wastes and contaminated lands Complex site; Comprehensive Preliminary Decommissioning Plan is available at Whiteshell Laboratories, Pinawa, Manitoba Complete decommissioning of entire research site Off-Sites Three Prototype Power Reactors Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD), Rolphton, Ontario Douglas Point (DP), Tiverton, Ontario Gentilly-1, Bécancour, Québec 23 Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) 24 page 12

13 CRL Decommissioning Status 25 Liquid Waste Transfer & Storage Project 26 page 13

14 Fuel Packaging & Storage Project 27 Waste Treatment Centre Liquid Waste Evaporator MicroFiltration/ Reverse Thin Film Osmosis Evaporator 28 page 14

15 Drums of Liquid LLRW 29 Decommissioning Activities at WL Whiteshell Laboratories, Pinawa, Manitoba Operated since 1963, with WR-1 reactor, nuclear fuel WM program, and CANDU R&D Site declared redundant by AECL, and will be decommissioned in three phases over several decades First six-year decommissioning licence obtained from CNSC in 2003 January, allows: Phase 1 of site decommissioning Continuation of selected research activities Provision of site support infrastructure, including operation of licence-listed nuclear facilities (hot cells, waste treatment centre, waste management area, etc.) 30 page 15

16 Whiteshell Laboratories 31 Whiteshell Decommissioning Solidification of Organic Waste 4 MeV Van de Graaf Accelerator 32 page 16

17 Whiteshell Decommissioning Shielded Facilities 33 Whiteshell Laboratories Removal of outlying research facilities (Bldg. 503) Dismantling of Cell 12 in Shielded Facilities Removal of Van de Graaff accelerator tank from Bldg page 17

18 35 MACSTOR Modules for CANDU Fuel Gentilly 2 (Canada), 7 Built as of 2004 (1596 MTHM) Air Outlet Air Inlet Cover Plate Plug Fuel Bundles Concrete Shielding Storage Cylinder Fuel Basket Cernavoda (Romania), 1 Built as of 2004 (228 MTHM) MACSTOR KN-400 Module Under design for Wolsong 1-4 (Korea) 36 page 18

19 Off-Site Prototype Reactors NPD Douglas Point Gentilly 1 37 Current Canadian Needs & Issues Final NWMO recommendation on long-term management of used fuel, then government decision Large enabling projects for decommissioning CRL Accelerated decommissioning of WL Decommissioning of URL Stable long-term federal funding to manage legacy wastes on AECL sites Clearance of inactive wastes from nuclear facilities LILW disposal facilities for operational and decommissioning wastes on AECL sites Next steps in Port Hope and Port Granby projects 38 page 19

20 Possible Implications for IAEA International involvement in RECAP demonstration closure activities at URL: Shaft and borehole sealing and monitoring Fracture sealing (grouting) Room closure and monitoring Intrusion monitoring Exchanges of information on: Decommissioning complex nuclear sites Public engagement page 20