Clock running on 30-day comment period
REGISTER FOR JANUARY 28TH WEBINAR 6 PM CST / 7 PM EST
Now or Never: Preparing Comments for the Impact Assessment of NWMO’s Nuclear Waste Project
A federal review of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s nuclear waste transportation and burial project by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) was launched on Jan. 5, 2026, with a 30-day comment period on the NWMO’s Initial Project Description. The comment period closes on Feb. 4.
Your voice is important – please submit your comment calling for a full impact assessment and public hearing and insisting that transportation of the radioactive wastes be included (the NWMO intends to send 2-3 trucks per day for fifty years; trips will average 1,800 km over mostly two-lane public roads, travelling from nuclear generating stations in southern Ontario and eastern Canada to the NWMO’s proposed site in the headwaters of the Wabigoon River in northwestern Ontario).
The NWMO has excluded transportation from its Initial Project Description, proposing that transportation issues not be part of the federal review.
Quick Links
Important Links & Documents for the Comment Period
The Impact Assessment Agency webpage on the NWMO’s DGR project review includes key documents and notices related to the review, as well as postings of public comments and a comment portal. The current comment period is on the Initial Project Description (IPD), of which there are two versions:
- the Plain Language Summary document (92 pages)
- the full document including the Initial Project Description – 1,322 pages, BUT only the first 262 pages is the detailed (well, more detailed than the summary) version of the Initial Project Description
There is also a 10-page summary at the beginning of the full IPD. You can read other comments from the public HERE.
Recommendations for responding (deadline Feb. 4):
- As an initial step, you may read or browse either the full Initial Project Description or its Summary, available on the Impact Assessment Agency’s project page for the Deep Geological Repository project, under “Key Documents”. You can also view submitted comments on the IAAC’s page HERE.
- Read our e-Newsletter and January News Release for aspects you may wish to consider or comment upon. WTNFN encourages our supporters to:
a. request that the Agency conduct a full Impact Assessment with a public hearing
b. request that the Agency include an examination of the waste transportation in its Assessment - Submit your comment in the IAAC portal HERE by Feb. 4 at 11:59 pm. Alternatively, you may submit a PDF or Word document to via IAAC email address: nuclearwaste-dechetsnucleaires@iaac-aeic.gc.ca
- IMPORTANT: 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.
- TIPS: 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 