WAWA ADDED TO NUCLEAR INDUSTRY’S “STUDY” LIST

Written by Reader Submission on 27 July 2011

Northwatch to host Nuclear Waste Workshop in Wawa July 28th, 7 to 9 pm

NORTH BAY, ON – Several communities in northern Ontario are allowing themselves to be studied as the possible location for an underground repository for all of Canada’s highly radioactive nuclear reactor waste as part of the nuclear industry’s search for a “willing” host. The town of Wawa is the most recent to add itself to the list.

In early May the municipality expressed its interest in an email to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, in followup to discussion during a committee meeting. The NWMO recently made a presentation during a special meeting of council, and had begun its initial screening of the community as a potential waste repository site.

The northern Ontario communities of Ear Falls, Schreiber, Ignace and Hornepayne are also being investigated by the nuclear industry, as well as three communities in northern Saskatchewan.

Communities throughout northern Ontario were first investigated as possible burial sites by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in the early 1980s. After meeting strong opposition to that effort, the crown corporation then developed a generic “concept” for burying nuclear waste in the Canadian Shield, but failed to gain an environmental approval when the review concluded in 1998. The newest proposal is similar to that developed by AECL, but is being forwarded by an organization made of the companies who operate nuclear reactors in Canada. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s proposal – like AECL’s – consists of placing the waste in metal containers deep underground. Many residents are concerned about the risk of accidents, including during transportation, exposure to the radioactive wastes, and the effects on the environment and human health when the radioactivity and toxicity of the wastes outlast the containers.

“We appreciate that the communities in northern Ontario who have expressed interest in this proposal are still in the very early stages of their arrangement with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization,” commented Brennain Lloyd, a spokesperson for Northwatch.

“That said, each of these communities will have to make a decision relatively soon about whether they want to continue in the NWMO process. It is hard to make good decisions without good information. In our view, good information is information that is reliable and independent and comes from a variety of sources, not just from the industry who is promoting the project.”

Residents of Wawa and area are encouraged to attend an open session being hosted by Northwatch on Thursday, July 28th, from 7 to 9 pm in the Cornell Room at the Wawa Motor Inn.

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