Quintessa Limited and its subcontractors, Geofirma Engineering Limited and SENES Consultants Limited, have recently completed the postclosure safety assessment of Ontario Power Generation's proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for Low and Intermediate Level Waste at the Bruce nuclear site in the Municipality of Kincardine, Ontario.
The work was undertaken on behalf of Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization, which is assisting Ontario Power Generation in seeking regulatory approval for DGR construction. The suite of postclosure safety assessment documents totalling around 2,500 pages represent the culmination of more than four years' work by a team of over 20 consultants. The impacts associated with a Normal Evolution Scenario and four Disruptive Scenarios were evaluated using the AMBER code, supported by the FRAC3DVS-OPG and T2GGM codes for detailed groundwater and gas calculations.
The postclosure safety assessment forms part of the supporting documentation for the DGR's Environmental Impact Statement and Preliminary Safety Report which were submitted for regulatory review in April 2011. The submission is necessary to secure an approved environmental assessment and a site preparation and construction licence. Following the appointment of a Joint Review Panel, a public comment period will be announced and a public hearing will be subsequently held by the Panel (anticipated to be in 2012), where stakeholders will have the opportunity to present their feedback on the DGR.