Decommissioning of the Gentilly‑2 facilities

• Role of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)
• Hydro‑Québec's duties and regulatory obligations as a licenced nuclear facility
• General information on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Canada
• Information on radiation's health effects and health studies

• About the Adaptive Phased Management (APM) plan for the long-term management of spent nuclear fuel
• Integrated, long-term strategy for radioactive waste in Canada
• Reports related to the Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste (ISRW)

No megawatts provided for in the Action Plan 2035 – Towards a Decarbonized and Prosperous Québec released on November 2, 2023, will come from nuclear generation. This means that the decommissioning of Gentilly‑2 will continue as planned.

Decommissioning is a four-step process: Preparation for dormancy, which covers unloading the reactor and deactivating the systems; dormancy, in which spent fuel is stored for more than 40 years; dismantling the facilities; and, finally, site rehabilitation.

Hydro‑Québec fulfilled all its obligations under collective agreements. As of October 31, 2016, all redundant employees (595) had been reassigned within the company, 60% of them within the same region. Some nonetheless decided to leave the company.

Hydro‑Québec has general contingency plans for all of its facilities that take into account various scenarios, including natural disasters such as earthquakes. For security reasons, the details of these plans must remain confidential and the plans for the Gentilly‑2 facilities are no exception. Even after these facilities have been decommissioned, Hydro‑Québec will continue to secure the site in accordance with applicable regulations.

The spent fuel bundles safely stored in the CANSTOR storage modules will be transferred to a deep geological repository around 2048. The NWMO is expected to reveal its chosen site shortly.

The Integrated Strategy for Radioactive Waste has tasked the NWMO with implementing an intermediate-level radioactive waste management solution. A deep geological repository is the NWMO’s proposed solution following public consultations across Canada.

The Strategy also wants low‑level radioactive waste generators and owners to remain responsible for implementing long-term disposal in keeping with international best practices, taking into account characteristics, volume, proximity to the existing interim waste facilities, community acceptance and technical considerations. Building near‑surface disposal facilities for low‑level waste is one of the Strategy’s recommendations.

For the time being, all radioactive waste at Gentilly‑2 will continue to be stored onsite in robust, secure concrete facilities.

All decommissioning activities carried out at the Gentilly‑2 site are subject to strict environmental and safety standards and are closely monitored. Just as it did during operation, Hydro‑Québec complies with all regulatory requirements. Current environmental monitoring at the Gentilly‑2 facilities has demonstrated that decommissioning activities have had no notable impact on the environment nor any impact on the health of employees or the public. These conclusions were confirmed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which asserted that “the Independent Environmental Monitoring Program (IEMP) results for 2015, 2016 and 2018 indicate that the public and environment near the G-2 Facilities are protected and that there are no expected health or environmental impacts.”

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission regulates the entire life cycle of nuclear power plants. It is in charge of ensuring that decommissioning activities are carried out in accordance with its regulatory requirements in order to protect workers, the public and the environment. Hydro‑Québec will comply with applicable regulations, as it did throughout Gentilly-2’s years of operation.

The site will be fully restored at the end of the dismantlement, around 2063-2064.

For matters related to the Gentilly‑2 facilities, as with all projects concerning the Odanak and Wôlinak Abenaki communities, we are in contact with W8banaki, the tribal council that works with these communities. In 2021, we agreed to conduct archaeological surveys on the Gentilly 2 site and identify black ash, a valuable tree species used in their traditional activities.

For the most part, the personnel working at the Gentilly‑2 facilities were there when the nuclear power plant was in operation. They have invaluable expertise and a process has been put in place to ensure that their knowledge is passed on to new specialized staff. We also practise exemplary document management to ensure the future generations handling the rest of the nuclear facilities’ life cycle can access quality information during the full decommissioning of the facilities and site remediation.