Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. I am Patrice Desbiens, deputy director of the Gentilly‑2 facilities at Hydro-Québec.
I am pleased to join you today, and I would like to thank you for inviting us to discuss nuclear waste management at our facility. Before getting started, I would like to give you some background.
Hydro-Québec operated the Gentilly‑2 nuclear facility safely and reliably from 1983 to 2012. Since it was permanently shut down on December 28, 2012, we have been proceeding with decommissioning the Gentilly‑2 facilities, which will be fully dismantled around 2062.
Already, the first two phases of our decommissioning plan have been completed. The first phase of the decommissioning was stabilization. During this phase, the reactor was shut down, the fuel was removed from the reactor, and systems containing heavy water were drained, dried and put in a layup state. The spent fuel had to be stored for seven years in a pool before being transferred to dry storage units. This step was successfully completed in December 2020.
We are currently carrying out activities for the storage-with-surveillance phase. The key remaining activities are the radiological, environmental and physical monitoring of the site where our radioactive waste is stored.
Radioactive waste management is central to Gentilly‑2's decommissioning activities. That is what I would like to talk about today, since it is of particular interest to members of the committee.
After considering the various decommissioning strategies, Hydro-Québec selected a deferred decommissioning approach. That means we will proceed with the final dismantling of the nuclear facility after a storage-with-surveillance period of about 35 years. A number of points were analyzed and various considerations led to this choice, and radioactive waste management was a key factor in making the decision.
This scenario is based on the availability in 2048 of a permanent site for spent fuel disposal under the purview of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.
A more rapid decommissioning would involve storing and monitoring the radioactive waste from the dismantling until a long-term storage facility was available, which involves additional costs.
It is also worth noting that decommissioning over a 40‑year period means the radioactive material has more time to decay, which simplifies the protective measures required to ensure workers' health and safety.
Until this site is available, we are continuing to monitor and maintain the strictest physical security at the Gentilly‑2 facilities. We are also continuing our efforts to reduce the volume of nuclear waste currently stored on site to ensure its sustainability and optimize its future transfer to the permanent storage facility.
We, like others responsible for Canadian nuclear facilities, are aware of the great responsibilities we have toward generations today and in the future, and we take these responsibilities very seriously.
That brings me to the end of my opening remarks.
Thank you for your attention. I would be happy to answer your questions.