Five months after signing its contract and assuming control of Canada’s federal nuclear sites, CNL issued a project description for the NSDF that indicated a preferred location for the NSDF. The reasons given for the site being more suitable did not include minimizing the effect on biodiversity. It’s also important to note that the third reason is incorrect as the chosen NSDF site is a virgin forested hillside extraordinarily rich in biodiversity.

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The EMR Site is currently considered to be more suitable for the NSDF. The advantages of the
EMR Site include:
 Environmental: Shorter travel distance for trucks delivering waste to the NSDF from the CRL
campus where the vast majority of new waste will be generated. By road, the EMR Site is
approximately 4 km closer to the campus than the Alternate Site. Similarly, the EMR Site is
2-3 km closer to interim waste stores that will be moved to the NSDF. As such fuel
consumption and exhaust emissions associated with transport vehicles will be significantly
less for the EMR Site.
 Safety and Security: Shorter travel distance and therefore shorter response times for CRL
emergency crews responding to calls for assistance (e.g. fire, security). Emergency vehicles
are situated at the edge of the main CRL campus.
 Stewardship: Minimizes use of virgin (undeveloped) property at CRL by establishing NSDF in
the same vicinity as most of the existing WMAs and reduces the area of the CRL site that
will require long-term management and institutional control.