CNP Media Release

Ottawa — Michigan Senators, Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, have called on American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, for an international review of Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) plan to make the Bruce nuclear site the largest outdoor high-level radioactive waste repository in North America. As reported in today’s Detroit News, the Senators asked Powell to raise the issue at the next bilateral meeting between Canada and the United States. Plans are also underway by the facility operator, Bruce Power, to restart two aging reactors that were shut down in 1998. An environmental assessment is underway that could allow the reactors to restart as early as spring 2003. Bruce Power is a subsidiary of the financially troubled U.K. nuclear utility British Energy.

In an October 17th letter to Powell, the Senators note that if OPG`s plan proceeds, the Bruce complex will store more than 17 times the amount of radioactive waste than is stored in the entire state of Michigan. And in the wake of September 11th, the Senators warn, “the establishment of such a high-profile and large facility for the storage of high level radioactive waste on the shorelines of the Great Lakes needs to be thoroughly evaluated and carefully considered.”

Michael Keegan, a Michigan resident and organizer for the Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes, supports the Senators’ concerns. “OPG’s plans have slipped past the public’s radar and nobody is aware of its implications” Keegan explained. “An accident involving high-level radioactive waste on the shores of Lake Huron could jeopardize 20% of the world’s fresh surface water. We need an open bi-national review of these nuclear expansion plans.”

In September, US and Canadian public interest organisations appealed to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to suspend OPG’s plans until transboundary public hearings could be organized. In spite of appeals for public consultations, the CNSC recently approved OPG’s request to designate the Bruce waste dump as a separate nuclear facility under the Nuclear Liability Act, allowing OPG to move forward with its plans. The first transfer of the high-level nuclear waste is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.

Kevin Kamps of the Washington-based Nuclear Information and Resource Service points out that under Canada’s Nuclear Liability Act, OPG’s liability for any mishap at the Bruce dump would be limited to $75 million. “With 36 million people in the Great Lakes system, it’s ridiculous to think that $75 million (Canadian) would ever cover the costs of a catastrophic accident at Bruce” Kamps said. “The Canadian Nuclear Liability Act protects the nuclear industry and not people,” he said.

“Let’s get to the root of the problem and stop making more nuclear waste” said Shawn-Patrick Stensil of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout. “We can phase out nuclear energy in Canada and stop piling waste on the shores of Lake Huron. Germany and Belgium are doing it. Why can’t we?” According to Stensil, the first step in solving the waste problem is to stop the proposed restart of the two reactors at the mothballed Bruce A nuclear station.

In addition to the proposed high-level waste storage, Bruce’s waste facility already houses the low and medium-level radioactive waste from OPG’s 20 reactors. High-level nuclear waste or irradiated nuclear fuel is one of the most toxic waste materials on earth, and, remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. At Bruce, these wastes are currently stored in water-filled pools that are part of the reactor buildings.

This week, the Canadian Federal government appointed Elizabeth Dowdeswell as president of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, which has been given a 3 year mandate to determine an option for the long-term management of Canada’s high-level radioactive waste. There is over 30 000 tons of high-level nuclear waste in Canada.