Addressing the Feds' Neglect of Radioactive/Nuclear Waste Ma

[Oscar]

Addressing the Feds' Neglect of Radioactive/Nuclear Waste Management

by Ann Pohl, Kitchissippi-Ottawa Valley Chapter, Council of Canadians - December 18, 2021

In November 2020, the federal government announced they were finally going to buckle down to creating a radioactive/nuclear waste management policy. I got involved right away because I now live 55 km, as the crow flies, from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, and CNL is the flagship epicentre of Canada's nuclear industry. Perhaps I can blame it on my sci-fi parentage, but nuclear waste has always been the stuff of nightmares for me, and consequently at the top of my activist to-do list. The opportunity to scratch that itch has finally arrived!

The initial "radioactive waste policy review" public engagement process ran from February to May 2021. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) convened four sessions on separate themes. Even their chosen themes were questionable and controversial.

Beginning in January, the Nuclear Waste Watch (NWW) Steering Committee coordinated relevant backgrounder briefings and other webinars. This learning offered newbies, like me, valid relevant knowledge on waste and related matters. These topics included the challenges of designing a policy that addresses the very worrisome waste stream from a host of theoretical "Small Modular Reactor" designs. Most of the brilliant presenters rounded up by NWW have been active on these issues for decades, some since the 1970's. These experts are with Clean Air Ontario, Canadian Environmental Law Association, Northwatch, Coalition for Responsible Energy Development-NB, Canadians Concerned for Nuclear Responsibility, Clean Green Saskatchewan, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, as well as The Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee, and many more groups.

Here are a few things I learned:

The growing piles of untended nuclear waste are proof of the nuclear industry's absolute disregard for the common good of all the interwoven life on Earth.

The nuclear industry's waste is way worse than I even imagined. You can read all about it at this link. I recommend starting with Uranium: The Shape-Shifter. At the top of the document you will see how to search for the items that interest you. Alternatively, you can read straight through but you might want to take it in doses: it is overwhelming.

The industry's singular interest is to raise up their products, through innovation, to increase flagging profits. Hence the SMR bamboozle, which has already benefited the industry via taxpayer-paid R&D subsidies. Behind the scenes, all that talk about saving the planet through "clean" nuclear energy keeps the lucrative nuclear weapons trade going.

The industry arrogantly dismisses grassroots public concerns about its practices, telling us we are not smart enough to understand the complexities.

The industry deceives the public when they say their current plans offer "a safe approach" via a "Deep Geological Repository" for high-level waste, or in a "Near-Surface Disposal Facility" for waste of purportedly less toxicity (see our backgrounder document). There is no way they can have certainty these novel concepts will ensure the waste is safely stashed away for the necessary hundreds, or even thousands, of centuries.

The Industry dissembles so well! They lead the public to believe that "the limited waste generated from nuclear is compact, safely contained and well managed." That quote comes from a motion passed by the Town of Deep River in December 2019. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is located in Deep River.

It is worth noting that the words "nuclear" and "radioactive" do not appear in industry promotion for Small Modular Reactors, Deep Geological Repositories or Near-Surface Disposal Facilities. Did generous sums of taxpayer subsidy dollars pay for this expert communications dictum?

The industry has totally infiltrated both the regulators and the regulatory system. This has been sanctioned, even authorized, by successive federal cabinets to the point where government is now totally captured by these corporations.

Activists from at least 10 Council of Canadians (CoC) chapters, from west to east, got involved over the 4 months of the federal policy public engagement process. Then, many of us collaborated on a resolution to continue this work. That proposal went to the CoC Board of Directors for further discussion after our June 2021 Annual Meeting. Up to now, nuclear waste has not been a key issue for the Council of Canadians but it fits into all our core campaigns: water protection, the climate emergency, problems of privatization, corporate capture, Indigenous rights, community health, and democracy. We argued to the Board that, short of nuclear weapons, this waste is the worst stuff our species has ever created and we cannot leave this legacy improperly addressed, as a plague on thousands of coming generations.

We won the Board's support! A mandated blend of staff and chapter volunteers was formed in August 2021, and we are called the 7000 Generations Working Group. Our task is to prepare as many supporters and allies as we can, to support a vigourous public response when NRCan releases its draft Radioactive Waste Management Policy. We expect that draft document to drop at some point this winter. That expectation is why you are getting a lot of info about nuclear waste as your seasonal gift from me. Sorry about the timing!

Preparation and circulation of the "7000 Gens Nuclear Waste Backgrounder Document" is our first step in helping our networks get ready to respond. After the holidays, CoC communications staff will assist with social media messaging. When the federal policy is released, there will be an e-blast and an action alert blog to encourage public commenting on the draft policy.

This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As you will read on various links in the Backgrounder Document, the Canadian nuclear industry arose from Canada's collaboration with the USA on WW2 weaponry. Almost 50 years later, Canada produced a half-page, high-level waste policy "framework" that basically authorized the industry to do whatever made sense to the industry. A "policy framework" is supposed to lead in short order to a "policy." I am assuming that industry lobbyists advised the corporately-captured federal government it would be simpler to not bother with an actual policy.

Now, a quarter century later ~ with industry waste over-maturing in temporary dry and wet storage, and more waste abandoned at accident sites, earliest processing locations, and by mining and milling companies ~ a policy is being developed! The draft released by NRCan is not likely to be what is needed. However, thanks to the formidable determination and savvy of our allies In NWW and related groups, there is a guarantee that the public has a chance to make comments! This makes it up to you, me, and the folks we know, to press for the incorporation of very best practices into the final policy. If you don't try, you can't win.

The plan and effort to create this action campaign comes from members of the 7000 Generations Working Group, which includes staffers Vi Bui and Mark Calzavara, Board member Marilyn Hay, and these chapter activists and allies: Gail Wylie, Ann McAllister, Helen Mason, Ken Collier, Dave Greenfield, Ian Pineau, Mary Love, Lin Grist, Ole Hendrickson, and me. If you prefer a PDF version of the 7000 Gens Nuclear Waste Background Document, send me an email? We created the url because the OT2 elist would choke on the PDF at c.400 kB.

Wishing us all a great start to the New Year, in solidarity,

Ann Pohl, Contact Person
kitchissippiottawacocchapter@gmail.com