Q & A: commenting during the Impact Assessment of the NWMO’s deep geological repository project
What happens now that the first comment period has ended?
The Impact Assessment Agency has used the comments received during the first comment period (Jan. 5 – Feb. 4, 2026) to compose a “Summary of Issues” for the NWMO. This has now been made public, and although there is not a separate comment period for this, comments can certainly still be submitted, and will appear in the public registry. We the Nuclear Free North will be submitting a comment.
Then, likely in late March or April, the Agency will publish its “Draft Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines,” (a document to guide the NWMO in what it must include when it composes its Impact Statement) – and a new 30-day comment period will begin concerning those. If you have general comments on the NWMO’s project and missed the first comment period, we recommend you submit them during the second official comment period – which will give the opportunity to comment on the “Draft Tailored Impact Statement Guidelines” as well, if you wish.
We will post new information on this page as it becomes available.
How do I submit comments?
You can use the online “portal” on the Impact Assessment Agency web site (step-by-step instructions are provided HERE) or you can send your comments by email to nuclearwaste-dechetsnucleaires@iaac-aeic.gc.ca
What should I include in my comments? [this is from Jan. 2026]
In addition to the Key Messages (below) your comments should express any other concerns you have with the NWMO’s project and your criticisms of the project description.
View a starter list of issues HERE; choose one or more and comment on why it is important to be included in the impact assessment and whether the NWMO provided enough information in their “initial project description”.
How should I organize my comments? [from Jan. 2026]
There’s no right or wrong way. You can view a suggested format HERE and a template letter HERE.
Check Out the Public Comments!
The number of comments is growing rapidly, but as of 8 am Sunday (Feb. 1) 260 submissions are enumerated in the Registry. The links below are a sampling:
Nearby Tourist camp operator
Eagle Lake First Nation (detailed)
Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition
Assembly of First Nations (report)
Town of Kapuskasing
Local Resident (Borups Corners)
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg
Eagle Lake First Nation
Comment on Transportation
Regional and National Media Coverage
As with our “sampling” of public comments, the following links to recent media coverage is incomplete, mostly because of the volume of coverage.
Public invited to comment on NWMO project
Sioux Bulletin
First Nation says nuclear site review could ‘prejudice’ legal case
The Narhwal
Authorities say they can’t extend 1st nuclear site comment period
NWONewswatch
What Canada’s Nuclear Waste Plan means for New Brunswick
NB Media Co-op
Ontario’s proposed nuclear waste repository poses millennia-long ethical questions
The Conversation
Quick Links
KEY FACTS
A federal review of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) “Adaptive Phased Management Project” commenced on January 5th, and the public has just 30 days to review an “initial project description”. The public comment period will close at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, February 4th.
The NWMO’s plan is to transport, process and bury all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste at a site between Ignace and Dryden in northwestern Ontario. The project will include 50 years of transporting highly radioactive waste with average transportation distances of 1,800 km per trip (1,700 from Ontario reactors). The 160 years of operation will place 150,000 tonnes of the radioactive waste underground in the headwaters of the Wabigoon River watersheds.
NWMO has selected a site between Ignace and Dryden in northwestern Ontario, in the heart of Treaty 3 territory. The NWMO has deemed only Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and the Township of Ignace to be “host communities”.The Township of Ignace is 45 km east of the site and in a different watershed; there are other communities closer by and hundreds of communities along the transportation route and downstream from the site who the NWMO has not included in their decision to select the Revell site.
The NWMO describes the Revell site as being “in the territory of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation” but there are several other Treaty 3 Nations who are also in relationship with the land NWMO has selected. Treaty 3 Chiefs in Assembly have expressed their opposition, as have Nishnawbi Aski Nation, Anishnabek Nation and Chiefs of Ontario.
The NWMO project will generate radioactive releases at each stage, from transportation to when the wastes are eventually abandoned underground.
There is no operating deep geological repository (DGR) for high-level nuclear waste anywhere in the world; there are projects in Finland and Sweden under development, but no DGR has received final approval or begun to operate.
The NWMO has excluded transportation from its Initial Project Description, proposing that transportation issues not be part of the federal review.
Additional Tips for responding (deadline Feb. 4):
- If using the IAAC online portal, fill in your name in the “name” field, but do not fill in the “organization” field unless you are authoried to represent that organzation. You may indicate your support of an organization in the body of your comment.
- You may comment more than once if you wish. The most effective comments refer to specific aspects of the Impact Assessment, and/or refer to the basis of your interest (community member, live along the transportation route, environmental concerns, etc.) – but you may also simply indicate your approval or disapproval of the NWMO project.
Read our January E-Newsletter about the assessment process for the NWMO’s nuclear waste transportation and burial scheme HERE
Read our January News Release HERE
We the Nuclear Free North will continue sharing news, analysis and updates. Check here again soon, or email nuclearfreenorth@gmail.com to be added to our e-news list and receive regular updates.
Three more “one minute actions” you can take today:
[ 0. See above – make sure you comment on the NWMO’s Initial Project Description by Feb. 4, 2026! ]
1. If you haven’t yet, send an email to the Impact Assessment Agency asking to be added to their email list for notices regarding their review of NWMO’s nuclear waste project. Once on the list, you will receive email communications regarding all upcoming stages and comment periods. Make your email brief, simply asking to be added to the list. The email address is nuclearwaste-dechetsnucleaires@iaac-aeic.gc.ca . Note that commenting during comment periods does not automatically add you to the list.
2. Use We the Nuclear Free North‘s online “action tool” to send a pre-made email to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. The link is: https://win.newmode.net/wethenuclearfreenorth/nuclearwastetransportationitsanimpact. Truly, it takes less than a minute!
3. Use We the Nuclear Free North‘s online “action tool” to send a pre-made email to your Member of Parliament. The link is: https://win.newmode.net/wethenuclearfreenorth/nuclearwastetransportationitsanimpact-1. Again, less than a minute!
And then, if you have a few more minutes – write a letter or four!
- Email Prime Minister Carney at pm@pm.gc.ca
- Email the Honourable Julie Dabrusin, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change at ministre-minister@ec.gc.ca and/or julie.dabrusin@parl.gc.ca
- Email the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources at NRCan.Minister-Ministre.RNCan@canada.ca and/or tim.hodgson@parl.gc.ca
- Email your Member of Parliament. You can find their email address at https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en
We the Nuclear Free North continues to support informed public discussion and criticism of the NWMO’s plan to transport, process, bury and abandon all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste at the Revell site in the heart of Treaty 3 territory in northwestern Ontario.
For updates in your Inbox:
If you have not already, sign-up for our contact list to receive news and analysis throughout the review process (including this “trial balloon” being rolled out by NWMO).
We the Nuclear Free North 