WR-1 Project Achieves Regulatory Milestone

February 24, 2025

The Whiteshell Reactor – 1 (WR-1) Project’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has now passed the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) completeness check and entered the final technical review stage – an important milestone in the environmental assessment process. Since it was last submitted in 2022, the project team has been working on responding to information requests from the CNSC, engaging with Indigenous Nations, and updating the 1,500 page EIS, as well as 23 other supporting documents, to ensure a complete submission.

CNL first initiated the environmental assessment for the in-situ disposal of the WR-1 reactor in 2016. The legacy research reactor is located at Whiteshell Laboratories in Manitoba and has been in a state of “storage with surveillance” for four decades, following its shut down in the mid-1980s. Through the WR-1 project, CNL aims to provide a responsible, safe, secure, and effective disposal solution for the existing contaminated below-grade building.

The environmental assessment is a measured, transparent, process, providing opportunities for Indigenous and public input and ensuring that a project has no significant adverse environmental impacts. Since the initial draft EIS was submitted in 2017, CNL has worked to continuously improve the document. The updates to the recently submitted draft EIS reflect the project’s commitment to thoughtfully incorporate regulatory, Indigenous and public feedback on previous revisions.

The document will now undergo a technical review by the Federal, Provincial, and Indigenous Review Team (FPIRT). CNL anticipates further information requests and comments from the FPIRT review, which the project will address in the final EIS.

The project plans to submit the final EIS in early 2026, after which the CNSC will announce a two-part public hearing.

“I’d like to thank the project team for their diligence with putting this submission together,” remarked Jeff Miller, Manager of Regulatory Approval, “We’re proud to submit a draft that includes valuable input from Indigenous Nations, the public, regulatory bodies and other technical experts. Through integrating this feedback on the WR-1 project, we are submitting a better document and honouring the relationships we’re continuing to build.”

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