LETTER

LETTRE

Import of radioactive waste into the Ottawa Valley

 

The http://concernedcitizens.net/2020/11/04/cnls-integrated-waste-strategy-alarms-downstream-residents/ import of radioactive waste from other federal sites to be placed in the facility at Chalk River is a big red flag for citizens' groups and First Nations. They say the Chalk River site is not suitable for long term storage of nuclear waste [according to the promoters' own predictions]. According to a HYPERLINK "https://www.anishinabek.ca/2017/05/02/joint-declaration-between-the-anishinabek-nation-and-the-iroquois-caucus-on-the-transport-and-abandonment-of-radioactive-waste/" n _blank Joint Declaration from the Anishinabek Nation and Iroquois Caucus, “Rivers and lakes are the blood and the lungs of Mother Earth.  When we contaminate our waterways, we are poisoning life itself.  That is why radioactive waste must not be stored beside major water bodies for the long-term.”
    Importation of radioactive waste to the Ottawa Valley was also opposed by a "http://concernedcitizens.net/2021/04/14/city-of-ottawa-passes-resolution-of-concern-about-cnls-radioactive-waste-activities/" City of Ottawa resolution in April 2021.
    The economics of the project are also fraught with problems. Our  "http://concernedcitizens.net/2020/10/06/the-government-of-canadas-radioactive-wastes-costs-and-liabilities-growing-under-public-private-partnership/" study concluded the facility would not reduce Canada’s $8 billion nuclear waste cleanup liability and could even increase it.
    Citizens’ groups have also called into question the Government-owned Contractor-operated model for Canada’s nuclear facilities brought in by the Harper government in 2015 and renewed by the Trudeau government in 2020. Under the model, "https://concernedcitizens.net/2020/11/24/since-the-goco-contract-was-signed-costs-to-canadian-taxpayers-appear-to-have-almost-quadrupled/" costs to the Canadian taxpayer have skyrocketed, and decisions about Canadian nuclear waste are being made by foreign nationals and corporations. The groups have called for cancellation of the contract and creation of an radioactive waste management organization in Canada, independent of the nuclear industry, similar to what exists in a number of European countries. 
    Please press your federal MP on this issue, and raise it over and over.
Ole Hendrickson, Ph.D., Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County, Ottawa
Johanna Echlin, Old Fort William Cottagers’ Association, Sheenboro, Pontiac