CBC News
Some aboriginal communities in northern Saskatchewan are interested in the possibility of storing nuclear waste — something the province hasn't made its mind up about yet.
Last week, representatives from the Métis village of Pinehouse took a trip to Toronto to visit the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.
Canada's used nuclear fuel is stored at reactor sites, but the organization is looking for a community to host a national storage facility.
The plan calls for used nuclear fuel to be put deep underground in stable rock formations. Jamie Robinson, a spokesman for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, says "a few" Metis towns and First Nations in Saskatchewan have heard presentations.
To be selected, a village or First Nation's council would have to pass a resolution, saying it was interested. It would also need a parcel of land for the site to be built on.
Saskatchewan's aboriginal communities are in the very first stages of being placed on the eligibility list, so it wouldn't be fair to say which ones have been talked to, he said.
"They really do this in confidence, because in a lot of cases it's people that haven't talked to their communities," he said.
The Saskatchewan government's position is that it reserves decisions on supporting Saskatchewan communities interested in hosting nuclear waste management facilities until such proposals are well into the regulatory process.
It's a wait and see approach, Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd said.
"We haven't had any formal proposals come forward on this," he said. "When they do, we would be prepared to evaluate them."
So far, the organization has only one formal application to host a nuclear waste storage site, from northern Ontario.
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