On January 8, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) approved plans for a nuclear waste disposal facility at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) site at Chalk River. The near-surface facility located about 160 kilometres northwest of Ottawa would feature a mound holding up to a million cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste about one kilometre from the Ottawa River.

The site was chosen for its proximity to existing waste sites at Chalk River Laboratories, where the federal government once operated nuclear reactors and over eight decades of nuclear waste accumulated. A former senior manager said the waste proposed for this facility is “intermediate level” and requires underground storage in a facility planned to be as deep underground as the CN Tower is tall.

The site is bordered by wetlands that drain into the Ottawa River, the water source for millions downstream. Citizens are also concerned that the underlying bedrock is porous, with the groundwater table very close to the surface.