need for better heat tests of Used Fuel Transportation Packages and assessment of forest fire threat to nuclear facilities and transportation

When we consider wildfires then the sanity of this deep geological repository burns away. On May 2, 2001, a nuclear transport containing highly radioactive iridium and another transport collided and burst into flames near Dryden, Ontario. 4 drivers were killed. Veritable, chariots of death. On February 14, 2014, at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) for nuclear waste storage, a haul truck caught fire underground with radioactivity escaping to the surface sending a radioactive plume towards Carlsbaad, New, Mexico. 22 personnel received low-level radiation doses.

On April 27, 2023 Whiteshell Laboratories, a former nuclear research and test facility located in Pinawa, Manitoba was closed to non-essential work because of severe safety deficiencies in the site's fire and emergency management program. The site was reopened after the implementation of a Corrective Action Plan.

Smoke last year covered Canada reaching Nova Scotia and New York City. In the case of another nuclear accident during a wildfire how far would radiation go? Are the used fuel transportation packages heat tested for wildfires? In the case of blazing infernos reaching the DGR site, what about the surface personnel, and facilities such as a hot cell repackaging plant and surrounding populations and the environment?

Author, John Vaillant explains that extreme wildfires now burn so intensely in a warming atmosphere that they create their own weather systems. In his book, “Fire Weather”, he details how this immense thermal energy generates its own winds and lightning, allowing a fire to spawn new blazes tens of miles away. He highlights that when enough heat is generated, these blazes transform into self-sustaining "beasts" that consume both natural environments and man-made materials at an unprecedented rate.

Dangerously, the recent decision made to fast track this deep geological repository, (DGR) is reckless disregard. The military maxim is” if it can go wrong, it will go wrong”. This DGR is dead wrong.