Canada

Canada has 22 reactors, contributing around 15 percent to total electricity production.

The waste is stored in a centralised facility and at the reactor sites.

A geological repository for low- and intermediate-level waste is planned at Kincardine. The licensing procedure for this facility began in 2005 and operation could start in 2017 or 2018. Legacy wastes from radium and uranium processing will be disposed of in a near-surface facility at Port Hope. The CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) granted the licence for this facility in 2009 and preparations for the construction work are currently underway.

The long-term plan for high-level waste is to construct a geological repository. The site selection process began in 2010.
 

A rock laboratory was operated at Lac du Bonnet between 1990 and 2001.

Further information:

www.cnsc.gc.ca/eng (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission)
www.llrwmo.org/en/home.html (Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office)
www.nwmo.ca (Nuclear Waste Management Organization)