An open house held in Lucknow on November 1 and 2 provided an opportunity for Huron-Kinloss and area citizens to help guide the next phase of work in preliminary assessment studies – initial borehole drilling.

The initial borehole would be for research purposes only, and it would not be expected to be a repository site. It would advance understanding of the general geology across the community and help assess the area’s potential suitability to safely host a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel.

Citizens in attendance at the open house had an opportunity to view three proposed borehole locations on a map (Kinloss gravel pit, Kinloss landfill site and proposed industrial park in Ripley) and share local knowledge about these areas, located on municipally-owned land. These valuable comments will help the NWMO and community work together to identify the preferred location for the research borehole.

The NWMO hopes to continue talking with community members about the proposed borehole locations throughout the remainder of 2016 and into 2017. If engagement and community preferences support it, the drilling of one initial borehole could take place later in 2017.