Stop the shipment of dangerous nuclear waste

Sierra Club Canada has learned Bruce Power plans to relocate 16 radioactive steam generators from Tiverton to Owen Sound, ON. The generators are then slated to travel via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River to a recycling facility in Sweden.

Bruce Power is rushing ahead with its proposal while serious questions remain unanswered about the procedure. Sierra Club Canada is calling for a stay in shipping until a full environmental assessment is conducted and all pertinent questions are answered. This is the only way to ensure the health and safety of the millions of Canadians who live alongside these waterways.

Bruce Power's application to ship the steam generators is currently before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The time to stop it is now. Please take a moment to sign your name and submit the letter below to the CNSC.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Marc Drolet
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
280 Slater Street, P.O. Box 1046, Station B
Ottawa ON K1P 5S9

Dear Mr. Drolet,

It has recently come to light that Bruce Power plans to ship steam generators arising from the Bruce A refurbishment project from Owen Sound to Sweden.

I am concerned this action was not contemplated during the approval process of the refurbishment of Bruce A. It would therefore be improper for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) to approve this action before addressing questions arising from apparent inconsistencies between the planned course of action and relevant documents from Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) regarding the handling of radioactive waste resulting from the refurbishment. We ask CNSC and CEAA to stay the shipping of nuclear waste to Sweden until these questions are answered in full.

On pages 3-31 and 3-32 of Volume 1 of the December 2005 Bruce A Refurbishment EA study report, approved by CNSC in May 2006, Bruce Power promises to transfer all radioactive waste from the refurbishment project to the Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF) on the Bruce site following assurance that they meet OPG’s acceptance criteria.  More specifically, the document states, “Transfer to the WWMF will occur entirely within the Bruce Power site and not require the use of public roads.”

Given the above, when was the decision taken by Bruce Power to transport radioactive wastes in the form of old steam generators on public roads to Owen Sound, and then to ship them through Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean to Sweden? How was that decision arrived at and who was involved in the decision-making process? When was CNSC notified that Bruce Power was going to deviate from the procedure clearly laid down in the Environmental Assessment? When did CNSC or the Department of the Environment authorize Bruce Power to deviate from that procedure as laid down in the EA?

On page 4 of Bruce Power’s Presentation to the Joint Council of the Saugeen Ojibway Nations, Bruce Power makes a commitment not to recycle any material which is radioactive, including low and intermediate level waste.  There is also a commitment that any volume reduction of radioactive waste will take place at the Western Waste Management Facility.

In light of these commitments to the Saugeen Ojibway Nations, where and when did Bruce Power decide to abandon the principle that low and intermediate level waste containing radioactivity cannot be recycled for safety and environmental reasons? Where and when did OPG give its assent to the abandonment of this principle? Where and when did CNSC give its assent, and where and when did the Department of Environment give its assent? More particularly, where and when was the Joint Council of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation informed that Bruce Power's principle against recycling radioactive materials has been abandoned?

Finally, the “Proposed Work Plan / Bruce A Refurbishment / Follow-Up Monitoring Program” dated September 2007 states that the WWMF is the planned destination of waste transfers until 2043 and that the WWMF will be expanded for additional waste storage.  Meanwhile, the OPG’s website explicitly states that “[s]torage for refurbishment waste (fuel channel waste and steam generators) from the Bruce reactors is … provided at the WWMF.”  No mention is made of Sweden as a potential destination for Bruce Power radioactive waste.

In light of the above, where and when did OPG authorize Bruce Power to ship the old steam generators to Sweden instead of to the Western Waste Management Facility? Who at OPG was responsible for that decision, and where and when was CNSC notified of OPG's change of position in this regard? More particularly, where and when did the CNSC formally accept this change of position on the part of OPG?

Certainly the transportation of radioactive waste several thousand miles to a destination outside of Canada, contrary to the specific statements in the December 2005 Bruce A Refurbishment EA study report approved by CNSC in May 2006, constitutes a significant change requiring a reconsideration of the approval and an additional environmental impact assessment.

In these circumstances the Canadian public expects the CNSC to answer these serious questions prior to granting permission to Bruce Power to move radioactive waste.

Sincerely,

Marc Drolet

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
280 Slater Street
P.O. Box 1046, Station B
Ottawa, ON K1P 5S9

Stop the shipment of dangerous nuclear waste

Marc Drolet

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