Disposal solution enhances nuclear option

One of Canada’s greatest mineral treasures is its uranium reserves. There are other great uranium deposits around the world, but none rival the high grade and vast tonnage of those found in northern Saskatchewan.

Those deposits have already demonstrated their economic viability. Ironically, the richest deposits could prove to be the toughest to exploit. Eventually, however, they will be mined. As the need for safe, clean and reliable fuel grows, the world will demand it.

While the virtues of nuclear energy have been demonstrated over the past quarter century, the final argument against nuclear energy is the difficulty of disposing of used nuclear fuel. In order for nuclear power to be fully accepted, a method of safely storing the highly radioactive nuclear waste has to be developed.

For years uranium has been hailed as the fuel of the future. Today, in Canada, it is an important component of the total mix of fuels for generating electric power, but it could play a much greater role. As well, while some countries such as France make greater use of nuclear power than Canada, most fall far short. In other words, there is still plenty of room for growth in nuclear power generation.

An environmentally conscious society will turn to nuclear energy as a clean, reliable and safe way to generate power. Fears of another Chernobyl or Three Mile Island will fade as confidence in the technology of nuclear power generation grows. Those disasters were significant, although the true damage may not have justified the hysteria that each aroused. The failures, however, represent only a small fraction of total nuclear power generation. Most nuclear power plants are, quite simply, safe. Certainly Canada’s Candu reactors exceed all reasonable safety requirements.

When compared with the long-term damage of fossil-fuel power generation or the disruption imposed by modern hydro-electric power generation projects like James Bay, nuclear power in Canada is the most reasonable way to go.

The last major hurdle in meeting the demands of an environmentally conscious society is the disposal of nuclear waste. But that issue, too, is being blown out of proportion. In fact, nature has been able to store uranium oxide, the raw material of nuclear fuel, for millions of years.

Scientists at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. have been studying the Cigar Lake uranium deposit in northern Saskatchewan for precisely that reason. While the deposit boasts an average ore grade of 12%, 100 times richer than the uranium deposits at Elliot Lake, Ont., “there is absolutely no sign on the surface that the orebody exists,” says AECL. “Even underground water within five metres of the ore has no uranium contaminants and is fit to drink. In fact, measurements show that water this close to the orebody contains 20 times less radioactivity than the Canadian standard for drinking water.”

Another major uranium deposit, Oklo in West Africa, acted as a nuclear reactor nearly two billion years ago when fission occurred naturally. Even so, there are no above-ground signs that radioactivity from that deposit escaped into the environment via groundwater.

The Cigar Lake deposit shows remarkable similarities to the concept being considered in Canada for disposal of nuclear waste: packaging the spent fuel within several protective barriers, then burying it within the granite rock of the Canadian Shield. Cigar Lake is about 450 metres below surface, contains about the same volume as a disposal vault would hold, is covered by a blanket of clay and lies within a thick layer of sandstone.

Studying Cigar Lake increases confidence that the concept of storing nuclear waste in the Canadian Shield would be adequate for at least as long as it takes for redioactivity to subside to safe, natural levels. That could be several thousands of years, but nevertheless is only a brief moment in geological terms.

Studies for the disposal of nuclear waster are far from conplete, but the evidence that safe waste disposal is entirely feasible is mounting. Once it is clear that safe disposal can be conducted, the case for nuclear power will strengthen and further enhance Canada’s mineral wealth.