Breaking News! CNL Announces a Revision
CNL has announced that they will not include intermediate-level waste in the mega dump. Our colleagues, Ole Hendrickson and Craig Robinson, brought us this news from last week’s meeting of the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Environmental Stewardship Council which they attend regularly on behalf of our groups. CNL has now also posted this news on their website (link below). CNL has reacted to public outcry and to the 200 submissions. This is good news that public pressure is beginning to have an effect.
We are not yet victorious. There is no clear definition of low- and intermediate-level waste. There will still be very long-lived materials in the dump. It is still against International Atomic Energy Agency standards and it is still too close to the river. Our work must continue so that we will be heard fully. This news may make it easier for the dump to get approval as some will think by removing intermediate-level waste there is no longer any danger. They are wrong.
If we listen to our scientists, we know that removing intermediate-level waste does not solve one of the biggest flaws with this proposal. Scientists tell us that there is a great deal of harmful material, some with long-lived radionuclides, in what CNL calls low-level waste. In Canada, long-lived post fission wastes, such as plutonium, are considered low-level wastes as they do not require shielding for handling. There are also very toxic materials, including heavy metals, involved. In no way should these materials be abandoned in an above-ground mound. Remember too that the International Atomic Energy Agency says that a mound-landfill, which is what the Engineered Containment Mound is, is only suitable for VERY low-level waste. CNL’s proposed facility (even for low-level waste) does not comply with international standards.
We have made progress but we still have a long row to hoe. We must make sure that people understand that low-level waste includes very dangerous material. CNL must also hear us that we do not accept radioactive waste coming to Chalk River for disposal from other locations. And we must continue to tell CNL that the location beside the river is not acceptable.
http://www.cnl.ca/en/home/news-and-publications/bulletins/2017/cnl-updates-nsdf-waste-inventory.aspx
Lynn Jones
Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area
[email protected]
Johanna Echlin
Old Fort William Cottagers’. Association
[email protected]
