There have been conflicting reports on plans to ship used radioactive generators across the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The reports are contributing to worries in Canada as well as from bordering towns in the United States.
One Canadian politician who is keeping a close eye on the plans is newly minted Senator Bob Runciman who hails from the Thousand Island and the Rideau Lakes area.
“Unless someone can point to specific weaknesses in terms of how this is going to be handled, I am not going to ring any alarm bells,” Runciman said.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has announced it will issue a transport licence to Bruce Power to ship 16 decommissioned steam generators to Sweden for recycling.
The commission feels the risk to people and the environment is almost negligible.
Let us hope the commission is right on this assessment.
The CNSC maintains Bruce Power is well qualified to carry out the shipment and will take adequate precautions to protect the environment, the health and safety of everyone living in areas where the shipment will go through.
The shipment is scheduled to take place this spring once the St. Lawrence Seaway opens for another season.
Altogether 16 decommissioned steam generators will be transported from south western Ontario to Sweden.
Each generator is the size of a school bus.
The generators will be welded shut before they are shipped.
According to available reports 20 million Canadians and Americans live close to the Great Lakes and another 40 million rely on them for safe drinking water.
The licence is valid for one year and is the first of many regulatory hurdles Bruce Power faces before it can start shipments.
Canadians and American, residing in the vicinity of areas where the shipment will go through, are hoping and praying CNSC is right.
Bruce Power still needs approval from authorities in the United States, Britain, Norway and Denmark.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which is a coalition of 73 mayors whose municipalities abut the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes, has opposed the shipment from the beginning, claiming any mistakes could be disastrous for the water source and its ecosystem.
Cornwall is opposed to the shipment.
The coalition also emphasises this approval could set a precedent for other nuclear plants looking to transfer wastes to other countries via the St. Lawrence River system, which provides water to millions of people.
The coalition is determined to lobby the Canadian, the American and European governments to quash the planned shipment.
Bruce Power says shipping the waste elsewhere is a smarter move than keeping it locked up.
The nuclear shipment has to be recycled somehow and this alternative seems to be the best option.
Transferring the shipment by air is out of the question.
There are more risks in case of a mid air collision.
So far, Sweden seems to be the only country which has the facility and the know how to recycle this hazardous material.
Runciman said they have to have faith in the commission which oversees this shipment.
