Area residents could be waiting until the end of the year, if not longer, to learn whether their geology has what it takes to house nuclear waste.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is still deciphering geological information gleaned from a swath of vacant land outside Creighton in May.
“We’re interpreting the data, so there’s a whole series of analysis that has to happen,” said Lisa Frizzell, director of corporate affairs for NWMO.
Frizzell said it’s expected to be several months before the findings are available to the public.
A 2011 geological screening of the Creighton area found no obvious conditions that would prevent nuclear waste storage in an underground repository.
Moreover Buz Trevor, a local geologist who supports building the repository near Creighton, has argued that northern Canada is one of the safest places on earth to bury radioactive waste.
In-depth
But more in-depth work was required, prompting NWMO to spend about $200,000 to conduct and interpret airborne geophysical surveys of the area.
“Data obtained from the airborne geophysical surveys will provide NWMO with valuable information that can be used to assess locations of different rock types and potential faults and fractures in the Creighton area,” said Mike Krizanc, communications manager for NWMO. “The data will help the NWMO build a more detailed understanding of bedrock geology both at the surface and deep underground.”
While there is no firm timeline in place, Frizzell said geologists may want to visit the site near Creighton on foot to verify some of the information garnered from the airborne surveys.
If results from the work indicate the Creighton area is geologically unsuited for the repository, the community will be removed from consideration for the controversial project.
Airborne surveys have so far been completed in three of the 14 Canadian communities learning about the potential of hosting radioactive waste: Creighton in Saskatchewan and Schreiber and Ignace in Ontario.
Findings from the airborne surveys are to be made public by way of a report.
The piece of land being studied near Creighton measures roughly 20 square kilometres – 10 kilometres by two kilometres – even though the repository itself would only need about six square kilometres.
The repository, wherever it is built, will carry a price tag as high as $24 billion.
