Full EA on Transport, Store wastes close to Bruce, phase out Nuclear power

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is proposing a new underground deep geological repository system.  Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (WLON) and the Township of Ignace have been selected as the supposed “willing host communities” for the proposed project, which is located 21 kilometres southeast of the WLON and 43 kilometres northwest of the Town of Ignace, Ontario along Highway 17 (Trans-Canada Highway).

There was a BIG problem from the beginning: I and many others have been repeatedly asking NWMO for many years to define a “willing host community”. They have steadfastly refused to do so. When I was the MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North from 2008 to 2015, my staff published  a large ad and mail-back poll. We asked  “what should be the distance from either the proposed deep depository or transportation corridor from Southern Ontario to Ignace for residents to have a say in whether the High Level Nuclear Wastes (HLW) should occur, and how.”  We received hundreds of responses. The vast majority said numbers from 100 to 250 km from either one. Therefor, it was their opinion (and mine) that every community, every First Nation within at least 100 km from the proposed transport route be one of hundreds of “willing host community(s)” to at least have a formal say. Instead NWMO has bribed a desperate and somewhat impoverished Ignace into being manipulated into approval. So:

1. Every community within at least 100 km of the 1700+ km routes should be considered to be a “willing host community”… or not… through a formal, rigorous process by a neutral third agency.
2. Immediately, in the short term, it is imperative that the long and dangerous transport over some of the worst roads and rail lines in Canada be subject to be a key inclusion in a full EA upon the whole (and wholistic) project assessment.

As you know we are talking about 50 years of many thousands of trucks (and perhaps rail cars?), several per day crossing through or near Thunder Bay, Nipigon, Geraldton, Longlac, Terrace Bay, Marathon, White River, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Barrie…. You get the picture.

I have been involved in this process as a citizen and MP for decades. NWMO has been incomplete, manipulative, inaccurate, deceptive, and sometimes untruthful more often than not. This has been a very flawed process.

As proposed, the Deep Geological Repository (DGR) for Canada's Used Nuclear Fuel Project would provide permanent storage for approximately 5.9 million bundles of used nuclear fuel. The project is expected to span approximately 160 years, encompassing site preparation, construction, operation and closure monitoring.

Why, if this material must be buried in the Canadian shield, don't you pick a spot within 100 km of the reactor (shield extends down to approximately Barrie) which is served by a somewhat safer divided highway rather than the most dangerous 2 lane roads in Canada?

Several of the NWMO geology experts told me and others: “Virtually any kind of bedrock can be engineered to be safe for disposal, at least in the short to medium term”. They said that yes, there are suitable sites quite near Bruce that would be suitable. So why are we instead shipping this HLW 1700 km? The answer is obvious and simple: Northern Ontario is politically weak. The answer is political, not rationally supported by science or logic. We are slated to be a dumping ground for the waste produced by politically powerful population centres . Southern Ontario gets the power, the jobs. We get the wastes. And… northwestern Ontario gets virtually no electricity from them. Almost all of our morning toast gets toasted using our sustainable, safe, lower cost hydroelectric power. 62% of Canada’s electricity comes from hydroelectric sources, and that number could be doubled in a decade or two. Not from megaprojects, but from low-head hydro developments. Combine that with a myriad of emerging (and cheaper and faster!) sustainable electricity sources… the answers are clear. To anyone truly observant and rational.

Ontario has some of highest hydroelectricity rates in North America. Why? Part of the reasons are mismanagement, privatization, and politics. But FAR and away the most expensive way to make electricity is … NUCLEAR!

At the very least, there must be a full impact assessment and public hearing before any decisions are made. This MUST also include a FULL transportation analysis including route, distances, road safety, public safety and environmental safety along the entire route, and the environment, communities, and humans within 100-200 km .

The half-life of plutonium is over 24,000 years. But this comment period is a semi-secretive mere 30 days?!  Really? At the very least, the obvious dangers inherent in rail or road transport of the HLW MUST be considered during any comment period.

There must be full impact assessment and public hearing, including insisting that transportation be included.

It is critical that the IAAC includes a full impact assessment and REAL public hearings, including transportation of the high level radioactive wastes as part of the assessment.

You owe it to ALL of communities who reside along the transportation route. You owe it to us people of northwestern Ontario. 

With a mere 30-day comment period, most of the people who are concerned about this project, including the transportation of the radioactive waste to the site, will not have even heard about the comment period and for those who were recently alerted to the comment period, it is a ridiculously short period of time to comment.

January of 2008: a CP rail train traveling along Lake Superior near Rossport, had a 14-car derailment. The cargo of plastic pellets was poured into Lake Superior, dispersing rapidly across  Lake Superior in Canada and the US. We are still finding them washed up on our Lake Superior shores. Only slightly toxic in this case, but if they had been radioactive wastes with a half life of tens of thousands of years…?!  In 2013, a train accident in Lac Megantic, PQ, caused 47 deaths : that is NOTHING compared to a nuclear incident near Thunder Bay’s 120,000 people. The current NWMO plan (along with Murphy’s Law) offers inevitable and irreversible environmental risk.

NWMO tells us that Finland has already approved and is constructing the world’s first and only deep repository. What they don’t mention is that it is not yet operational, and is not thousands of km over dangerous transport routes from the reactor. They never mention the distance. It is … wait for it … drum roll… 5 km from the reactors! There are NO other operational facilities anywhere in the world. NWMO is asking northwestern Ontario citizens to be guinea pigs in a 100,000 year experiment. The ½ life of incredibly toxic and dangerous Plutonium is 24,000 years! And some other HLW wastes last even longer.

Full business disclosure: over the last 50 years, I have helped to create a thriving eco-tourism business providing local and regional economic benefit, well within the 250 km danger zone. There is significant and growing nature-based tourism North of Superior. This proposal will severely damage, and perhaps destroy,  tourism here.

I am a former scientist (biology, ecology, forestry, wildlife management, toxicology, evolution, biodiversity). Today, 96% of the biomass of animals is comprised of humans + our domesticated animals. Only 4% of the animals left on earth… the wild animals…  remain! A lot of them, including woodland caribou, are here. We live in a special and unique place. One of the last healthy wild forest ecosystems left on Earth. A treasure. A gift from the Creator. If nuclear wastes ARE really safe… please keep them where the power and jobs benefit the citizens there.

Lake Superior is the largest lake in world. The Great Lakes contain 84% of all North America’s surface water… and 21% of all the fresh surface water in the entire world. We (and thousands of km of dangerous transport routes) are in that watershed. The proposed Ignace repository is at the headwaters for Winnipeg, and Lake Winnipeg. What are we thinking?!

NWMO has proudly indicated that one First Nation has said “OK.” (Not really. They actually said they are open to learning more… but political spin…). But Grassy Narrows and Rainy River and Eagle River say “NO Way!” Every FN within at least 100-200 km of transport routes should be potential “willing host communities” and be asked, and listened to.

Albert Einstein was the primary initiator for nuclear power. Later in his life he campaigned vigorously again both nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

We humans are techno- clever chimpanzees with cell phones… and nukes. Clever enough to build A-bombs and Nuclear reactors. NOT wise enough to NOT build A-Bombs and Nuclear Reactors. When will we move past clever to truly wise? Let’s start by burying our toxic and dangerous past mistakes more safely…  very close to where they were produced.

Bruce Hyer

Bruce@Wabakimi.com