Panel Report

September 23, 1988: The Honourable Marcel Masse, Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, referred the proposal for public review.

October 4, 1989: The Honourable Lucien Bouchard, Minister of the Environment, appointed the Panel and issued its terms of reference.

December 1, 1989: The Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office (FEARO) announced the availability of two documents, one prepared by the Lura Group ( An Issue Paper on the Management of Nuclear Fuel Wastes, April 1989) and the other prepared by Acres International (A Review of Various Approaches Being Undertaken by Industrialized Nations for the Management and Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste, April 1989). FEARO also publicized the availability of an AECL document entitledManaging Canada's Nuclear Fuel Wastes and a nuclear fuel waste database consisting of a list of documents and associated key words. These documents were intended to assist participants to prepare for the scoping meetings.

March 23, 1990: The Honourable Lucien Bouchard, Minister of the Environment, appointed a new panel chairman.

Spring 1990: The Panel began publishing Dialogue, a news bulletin. It produced six issues periodically between spring 1990 and spring 1994.

May 3 and May 18, 1990: Dates and locations were announced for open houses to be hosted by the panel secretariat. Twenty sessions were held in 16 communities.

Spring 1990 Open Houses

• New Brunswick
  • May 22: Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, Fredericton
  • May 23: Holiday Inn, Saint John
  • May 24: Rodd Park House, Moncton
• Quebec
  • May 28: Loews Le Concorde, Quebec City
  • May 29: Hotel des Gouverneurs, Trois Rivières
  • May 30-31: Le Centre Sheraton, Montreal
• Ontario
  • June 5: Venture Inn, Ottawa
  • June 6: Oshawa Civic Auditorium, Oshawa
  • June 7-8: Ramada Hotel Downtown, London
  • June 11: President Hotel, Sudbury
  • June 12-13: Senator Hotel, Timmins
  • June 14: Red Oak Inn, Thunder Bay
  • June 25-26: Delta Chelsea Inn, Toronto
• Manitoba
  • June 18: Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg
• Saskatchewan
  • June 19: Regina Inn, Regina
  • June 20: Sheraton Cavalier, Saskatoon

Summer 1990: Panel members visited AECL's Whiteshell Underground Research Laboratory at Pinawa and Ontario Hydro's Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.

August 15, 1990: The Panel appointed the Scientific Review Group and issued its terms of reference.

August 24 and October 11, 1990: Dates and locations of scoping meetings were announced. Nineteen sessions were held in 14 communities.

Scoping Meetings

• Ontario
  • October 22-23: St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto
  • October 23: Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
  • October 24: Marconi Club, London
  • October 29: Red Oak Inn, Thunder Bay
  • October 30: President Hotel, Sudbury
  • November 8: Venture Inn, Ottawa
• New Brunswick
  • November 5-6: Aitken Bicentennial Exhibition Centre, Saint John
  • November 6-7: Fredericton Inn, Fredericton
• Quebec
  • November 13: Hotel des Gouverneurs, Trois Rivières
  • November 14: Club des employés civiques de Québec, Québec
  • November 15-16: Le Nouvel Hôtel, Montreal
• Saskatchewan
  • November 19: Regina Inn, Regina
  • November 20-21: Holiday Inn, Saskatoon
• Manitoba
  • November 22: Delta Winnipeg, Winnipeg

November 5, 1990: The Panel released operational procedures, weekly compilations of scoping meeting submissions and transcripts of scoping meetings.

March 6, 1991: The Panel held a workshop in Thunder Bay on Aboriginal issues related to the proposed disposal concept.

March 15, 1991: Three panel members participated in the seventh national conference of Canadian Student Pug-wash at the University of Ottawa to hear students' concerns about the proposal.

April 23, 1991: Some panel members visited the Serpent River First Nation and the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation.

April 24, 1991: The panel chairman announced the appointment of an Aboriginal panel member, Ms. Maddy Howe-Harper.

June 13, 1991: Draft guidelines were issued for public review during a period ending September 16, 1991.

November 1991: The panel chairman visited nuclear waste authorities in Europe and produced a report.

March 18, 1992: Final Guidelines for the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement were issued to AECL and released to the public.

March-June 1992: The Panel developed a future activities program to obtain information on issues relevant to its mandate that were outside AECL's mandate. It sent information requests to five government agencies and the three provincial utilities producing nuclear power. Responses were received between September 1992 and October 1994.

August 2, 1994: The Panel released its phased approach for public hearings.

October 26, 1994: The Panel released the EIS submitted by AECL for a public review period ending August 8, 1995.

October 26, 1994: The panel chairman announced the appointment of Dr. Denis Brown to replace Dr. Lionel Reese, who died in 1993.

October 26, 1994: Dates and locations for autumn open houses were announced. Ten sessions were held in eight communities.

Autumn 1994 Open Houses

• Ontario
  • November 16: York Lanes, York University, North York
  • November 17: Davis Centre, University of Waterloo, Waterloo
• New Brunswick
  • November 21: Rémi-Rossignol Building, University of Moncton, Moncton
  • November 22-23: Saint John Regional Library, Saint John
  • November 24: Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, Fredericton
• Saskatchewan
  • November 28: Language Institute, University of Regina, Regina
  • November 29-30: Delta Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon
  • December 1: Chapel Gallery, North Battleford

January 4, 1995: The dates and locations for winter open houses were announced. Twenty sessions were held in 17 communities.

Winter 1995 Open Houses

• Manitoba
  • January 16: Centennial Library, Winnipeg
  • January 17: Legion Hall, Lac du Bonnet
• Ontario
  • January 19: The Agora, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay
  • February 6: Science and Natural Resources Building, Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology, Sault Ste. Marie
  • February 7: W.H. Collin Centre, Elliot Lake
  • February 8: Science North, Sudbury
  • February 9: Timmins Square Merchants, Timmins
• Quebec
  • February 20: Station de métro McGill, Montreal
  • February 21: La Place, Complexe Desjardins, Montreal
  • February 22: Centre culturel Larochelle, Bécancour
  • February 23: Pavillon Maurice Pollack, Université Laval, Quebec
  • February 24: Cour des promotions, Place Laurier, Ste. Foy
• Ontario
  • March 6 (afternoon): Legion Hall, Kincardine
  • March 6 (evening): Kincardine District Secondary School, Kincardine
  • March 8: Oshawa Centre, Oshawa
  • March 9-10: Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium, Metro Toronto Reference Library, Toronto
  • March 22: Policy Studies Building, Queen's University, Kingston
  • March 23 (day): Eaton Court, Rideau Centre, Ottawa
  • March 23 (evening): The Agora, University of Ottawa, Ottawa
  • March 24: Bayshore Shopping Centre, Nepean

March 30, 1995: The panel chairman announced the appointment of Ms. Mary Jamieson to replace Ms. Maddy Howe-Harper, who died in late 1994.

July 16, 1995: The Panel issued draft public hearings procedures for comments and reminded participants of the August 8 deadline for comments on the EIS.

October 6, 1995: The Scientific Review Group submitted its report to the Panel and made it public.

December 12, 1995: The Panel released a request for additional information to AECL and announced that public hearings, to be held in three phases, would begin on March 11, 1996.

February 1, 1996: Dates, locations and topics for Phase I hearings were announced and hearings procedures were released. This phase of hearings focused on broad societal issues related to long-term management of nuclear fuel wastes. Three weeks of hearings were held.

Phase I Hearings - Ontario

March 11-15: Third-Floor Auditorium, 4900 Yonge Street, North York

• March 11: General
• March 12: Ethical considerations, including perspective of Aboriginal people
• March 13: Risk and uncertainty
• March 14: Risk, cost and benefit
• March 15: Criteria for safety and acceptability

March 25-26: Dan Beer Arena, Pickering

• March 25: General
• March 26: Siting of facility and siting criteria

March 27-29: Third-Floor Auditorium, 4900 Yonge Street, North York

• March 27: Site selection process
• March 28: Transportation
• March 29: Implementing and management agency

April 29: Bartley Residence, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay

• General discussion and perspectives of Aboriginal people

April 30: Canisius Hall, Laurentian University, Sudbury

• General discussion

May 2-3: Lyons Hall, Chalk River

• General discussion with emphasis on site selection process

February 27, 1996: The Panel released a list and short biographies of invited speakers for Phase I public hearings on broad societal issues.

April 15, 1996: Dates, locations and topics for Phase II hearings were announced. This phase consisted of technical sessions focused on the long-term safety (postclosure period) of AECL's concept of geologic disposal from scientific and engineering viewpoints. Two days were also dedicated to issues related to the preclosure period of the proposed disposal facility. Two and a half weeks of hearings were held.

Phase II Hearings - Ontario

June 10-14 and 17-21: Third-Floor Auditorium, 4900 Yonge Street, North York

• June 10: Technical aspects of site characterization and site availability
• June 11: General session with emphasis on the multiple barrier system
• June 12: Disposal container and nuclear fuel waste form
• June 13: Disposal vault environment
• June 14: Enclosing rock mass or geosphere
• June 17: Surface environment and biosphere
• June 18: Performance assessment criteria, risk and uncertainty
• June 19: Performance assessment and modelling, and analogues
• June 20: General session
• June 21: General session

June 27-28: Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium, Metro Toronto Reference Library, Toronto

• June 27: Environmental and health impacts of disposal facility
• June 28: Socio-economic impacts of disposal facility

May 9, 1996: The Panel released additional information requested from the proponent in December 1995.

May 30, 1996: The panel chairman announced the appointment of Dr. Dougal McCreath to replace Dr. William Fyfe, who resigned at the end of April 1996.

July 18, 1996: The Panel announced an extension to its Phase II hearings to allow for discussion of new information submitted or referenced by AECL in its Response to Request for Information (May 1996) and during the June hearings. It also announced the availability of a list of documents being reviewed during the extension, as well as the postponement of Phase III hearings to January 1997.

September 25, 1996: The dates and locations of the Phase II hearings extension were released. Four days of technical hearings were held.

Phase II Hearings Extension - Ontario

November 18-21: The Great Hall, St. Lawrence Hall, Toronto

• November 18: Multiple barrier disposal concept, including components, options, flexibility, robustness
• November 19: Postclosure assessment, including suitability and flexibility of the methodology, and acceptability
• November 20: Preclosure assessment, including reference design, methodology and effects
• November 21: General technical session with presentation on long-term storage

November 1, 1996: Dates and locations for Phase III (community) hearings were announced. These hearings consisted of visits to 16 communities, including three First Nations communities, to hear participants' views on the safety and acceptability of the disposal concept for nuclear fuel wastes and on any other issues relevant to the panel's mandate. Twenty-two sessions were held.

Phase III Hearings

• Saskatchewan
  • January 13-14: Commonwealth Ballroom, Ramada Hotel, Saskatoon
• Manitoba
  • January 16: Multiplex Arena, Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba
  • January 27-28: The Club, Hotel Fort Garry, Winnipeg
• Ontario
  • January 29: Scanbia Room, Valhalla Hotel, Thunder Bay
  • January 30: Ginoogaming Complex, Ginoogaming First Nation, Long Lac
  • January 31: Royal Canadian Legion Hall, Atikokan
  • February 10: Main Hall, Porcupine Dante Club, Timmins
  • February 11: Empress Ball Room, Howard Johnson Hotel, North Bay
  • February 13: Cutler Community Centre, Serpent River First Nation, Serpent River
  • February 24: Branch 340, Royal Canadian Legion, Port Elgin
  • February 25-26: Third-floor Auditorium, 4900 Yonge Street, North York
  • February 27: Branch 43, Royal Canadian Legion, Oshawa
• New Brunswick
  • March 10-11: Loyalist Room, Saint John Trade and Convention Centre, Saint John
• Quebec
  • March 13: Salle Grande Hermine, Pavillon Jacques Cartier, Parc de l'île St-Quentin, Trois-Rivières
  • March 24-25: Salle Dorchester, Le Nouvel Hôtel, Montreal
• Ontario
  • March 26-27: Branch 351, Royal Canadian Legion, Ottawa

January 24, 1997: The Panel announced a modification to its operational procedures to allow hearings participants to submit written closing statements by April 18, 1997.

February 1998: The Panel submitted this report to the federal Minister of the Environment and Minister of Natural Resources.