The Nuclear Waste Management Organization continues work in the Ignace-Wabigoon area despite COVID-19 restrictions.
Fieldwork and borehole drilling has been suspended but remote technical studies and research continues.
The work includes analyzing data from rock and water samples that were collected during recent testing to gain a better understanding of the geology.
This is considered an important step to see if the site would be a safe place to host a deep underground geological nuclear repository.
The NWMO says they continue to work with the impacted communities and contractors to plan for the safe return to the field and drilling the fifth and sixth boreholes.
The organization previously completed drilling and downhole testing of boreholes one to three, and drilling and coring of the fourth borehole to 1,000 metres was completed in March.
Two reports in initial results are expected to be made public shortly.
Andy Parmenter, Section Manager, Geoscientific Integration and Synthesis, says “These products will provide the most accurate representation of the bedrock available and they will be integrated with the borehole data to develop three-dimensional geological models of the study area.”
The Ignace area is one of two currently involved in the NWMO site selection process.
