Collaborative Transportation Planning – how the NWMO is approaching social safety as we plan for the transportation of use nuclear fuel

Abstract

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is responsible for designing and implementing Canada’s plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel. This national environmental infrastructure project, known as Adaptive Phased Management (APM) requires used nuclear fuel to be contained and isolated in a deep geological repository in an area with informed and willing hosts. Transportation of used nuclear fuel to the deep geological repository site is a key part of Canada’s plan and will begin in the 2040s, once the repository is operational.

Transportation is an important topic to Canadians and Indigenous peoples and the NWMO has been engaging with communities for several years to understand their question, concerns and priorities. In 2021, the NWMO released a framework for collaborative transportation planning that outlines those priorities and a proposed path forward.

Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge and involving Indigenous peoples in the development of transportation plans is key to this process. Through the multiple lenses of the NWMO, community members and Indigenous advisors, this paper will explore the challenges and opportunities of developing a collaborative transportation planning process that aims to balance regulatory, technical and social safety.