CREIGHTON - NO NUKE WASTE DUMP IN SASKATCHEWAN!!!

CREIGHTON - NO NUKE WASTE DUMP IN SASKATCHEWAN!!!

Postby Oscar » Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:17 pm

GOOD NEWS!!! NO NUKE WASTE FOR SASKATCHEWAN!!

NWMO crosses Creighton off the list

[ http://www.thereminder.ca/news/local-ne ... -1.1779968 ]

Jonathon Naylor / Flin Flon Reminder March 3, 2015 08:06 AM

Creighton is out of the running for nuclear waste storage.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announced this morning that geological studies near Creighton reveal the area has "geological complexities that reduce the likelihood of finding a suitable site" to "safely host" a nuclear waste repository. [ . . . ]

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Creighton on shortlist for nuclear waste facility

[ http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/sask ... story.html ]

The StarPhoenix November 21, 2013

Only one Saskatchewan town has made the shortlist of those seeking to host a multi-million dollar nuclear waste facility.

The town of Creighton, located approximately 500 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, was approved for further study following a preliminary assessment by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), the organization said in a news release Thursday.

Two other Saskatchewan communities – Pinehouse and the English River First Nation – were not selected to proceed to the next phase.

- - - - SNIP - - - -

To recognize the work each community has done, the NWMO will provide $400,000 to each upon its establishment of a Community Well-Being Reserve Fund to spend on youth, senior or other programs.
Last edited by Oscar on Sun Jul 27, 2014 3:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Creighton Gets Closer Look-Pinehouse/English River Off List

Postby Oscar » Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:20 pm

Potential Of Nuclear Waste Storage In Creighton Will Get Closer Look; Pinehouse and English River No Longer An Option

[ http://www.mbcradio.com/index.php/mbc-n ... format=pdf ]

Written by Kelly Provost, Dave Sims

Thursday, 21 November 2013 07:33 -
Last Updated Thursday, 21 November 2013 07:57

Creighton is moving on to the next round of a site selection process for a proposed nuclear waste storage facility -- while Pinehouse and the English River First Nation have been dropped out of the running.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization says Creighton and three communities in Ontario have been identified for more detailed study.

But Pinehouse and the English River First Nation are no longer being considered as a possible future site for a deep geological repository.

Pinehouse Community Liaison Committee chair Vince Natomagan says local officials are still trying to digest the news: "We were quite surprised. We generally had the notion that we had the right geological conditions in northern Saskatchewan to warrant further study. But, apparently, according to some of the experts at the NWMO, this is not the case -- so, we're quite surprised."

Natomagan says the polarizing nature of the local debate has been a distraction: "Although I'm surprised, I'm half-relieved because while we're trying to do things in our community, this divisive issue has been hitting our political agenda, if you will, at the community level."

Natomagan says a side benefit of this pursuit was capturing the attention of the federal and provincial governments.

Two communities in Ontario -- Ear Falls and Wawa -- also won't be studied further.

The NWMO says it will provide $400,000 to each of the four communities for a Community Well-Being Reserve Fund.

Meantime, the mayor of Creighton says it's too early to know whether his community will be deemed suitable or not to host a nuclear waste repository.

Bruce Fidler says he only learned last night that the NWMO had selected Creighton for the next stage of consultations over the idea.

The mayor calls it an "excellent" development, but he stresses it's too soon to say what it will all mean:

"It is just more of a detail-learning process, there is no commitment by the community to host this facility, and in their more detailed studies it may show up that it wouldn't work here."

He says he's not sure why Creighton was chosen for the next stage, but expects to hear a lot more over the next three to four years.

Meantime, the Committee for Future Generations says it's pleased that Pinehouse and the English River First Nation have both been dropped from consideration for the site.

Spokesperson Candyce Paul says she hopes her group's efforts and awareness campaigns helped sway the decision.

However, Paul says they are still not satisfied, and will concentrate efforts on the Creighton area.

She says there are other communities in that area who stand to be affected, and the potential danger from an accident can't be ignored:

"We know that the (Canadian) Shield areas are like sponges, there's water everywhere and any mistake, any leak that goes into that water, anyone downstream is affected."

Paul says she wouldn't wish a nuclear waste storage site on anyone and thinks other disposal options should be explored.

Thirteen other communities in the country are in various stages of the site selection process.
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NWMO Completes Phase 1 Prelim. Assess. With 8 Communities

Postby Oscar » Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:44 pm

NWMO Completes Phase 1 Preliminary Assessments With Eight Communities

[ http://nationtalk.ca/story/nwmo-complet ... mmunities/ ]

by aanationtalk on November 21, 201322 Views

Four communities will continue to more detailed study; all eight recognized for leadership

TORONTO, NOV 21, 2013 – The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has completed the first phase of preliminary assessment in collaboration with eight of the 21 communities that expressed interest in learning about Canada’s plan for the safe, long-term management of used nuclear fuel. Preliminary Assessments are the third of nine steps in a multi-year process for evaluating potential suitability to host adeep geological repository for Canada’s used nuclear fuel and an associated Centre of Expertise.

Creighton in Saskatchewan, and Hornepayne, Ignace and Schreiber in Ontario, were assessed as having strong potential to meet site selection requirements and have been identified for further study. The communities of English River First Nation and Pinehouse in Saskatchewan, and Ear Falls and Wawa in Ontario, were not selected for more detailed study. Findings to date do not confirm suitability of any site, and no community has expressed interest in hosting the project at this early point. These findings do not affect work in the 13 other communities involved in earlier stages of the process.

“Each of the eight communities that completed the first phase of assessments has shown strong leadership,” said Kathryn Shaver, Vice-President of APM Engagement and Site Selection at the NWMO. “As we prepare for increasingly more detailed field studies and engagement, it is necessary to narrow our focus to those areas with strong potential for meeting strict safety and geotechnical requirements, and for the project to align with their long-term vision.”

Phase 1 assessments evaluated in a preliminary way the potential for an area to meet or exceed strict safety and geoscientific requirements and to align with the community’s long-term goals and vision. Any site selected in the future must have an informed and willing host, meet strict scientific and technical criteria for protecting people and the environment for the very long term, and meet or exceed regulatory requirements.

Recognizing Community Leadership

At this milestone in the process, the NWMO is recognizing the contribution all eight communities have made to advancing Canada’s plan for safely managing used nuclear fuel over the long term. Through their multi-year participation, each community has built understanding of the project, and helped shape and deliver engagement and ensure meaningful involvement of citizens.

“Through their leadership, these communities have advanced this major national project on behalf of all Canadians,” said Ms. Shaver. “Each has helped design and lead dialogues to ensure important questions about safety are asked and learning continues. By working within their communities and through early outreach to neighbours and Aboriginal peoples, they have underscored the importance of working together and helped set the stage for the next several years of study.”

In acknowledging these significant contributions to the process, the NWMO will provide $400,000 to each of the eight communities upon establishment of a Community Well-Being Reserve Fund. Administered by the communities, these funds will support continuing efforts to build community sustainability and well-being. Examples of activities the fund could support include projects, programs or services that benefit community youth or seniors, community sustainability, energy efficiency or economic development initiatives. Other communities engaged in the process will be similarly recognized upon completion of their Phase 1 studies.

Next Steps

For communities that continue, the next phase of work involves more intensive community learning and engagement. Work will take on a broader focus to include surrounding communities and First Nations and Métis peoples. This ongoing engagement will be important to understanding the potential to foster well-being of the broader area and the ability to work together to implement the project. Preliminary fieldwork will begin, including aerial surveys, and at later date, limited borehole drilling, to further assess geology and site suitability against technical safety requirements.

As individual studies are completed, the NWMO will continue to gradually narrow its focus to areas with strong potential to be suitable for hosting a repository. Ultimately, the project will only proceed at a site that can safely contain and isolate used nuclear fuel, and with the involvement of the interested community, surrounding communities, and First Nations and Métis peoples working together to implement it.

It is expected to take several more years to complete the necessary studies to identify a preferred site and an informed and willing host. Communities may choose to end their involvement at any point during the site evaluation process, until a final agreement is signed, subject to all regulatory requirements being met and approvals received.

About the NWMO

The purpose of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is to develop and implement, collaboratively with Canadians, a management approach for the long-term care of Canada’s used nuclear fuel that is socially acceptable, technically sound, environmentally responsible and economically feasible. The NWMO was created in 2002 by Canada’s nuclear electricity producers. Ontario Power Generation Inc., NB Power Nuclear and Hydro-Québec are the founding members, and along with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, fund the NWMO’s operations. The NWMO derives its national mandate from the Federal Nuclear Fuel Waste Act, which came into force in November 2002. -30-

For More Information
Mike Krizanc, Manager of Communications
NWMO
mkrizanc@nwmo.ca
647.259.3043
http://www.nwmo.ca
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Northern band says 'no' to nuclear waste

Postby Oscar » Sun Jul 27, 2014 3:38 pm

Northern band says 'no' to nuclear waste

[ http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinio ... 50241.html ]

"...science is not infallible, and PBCN -- as well as many residents -- worry something could go terribly wrong."

By Jonathon Naylor Winnipeg Free Press Posted: 07/17/2014

The most controversial economic-development proposal in the history of this area may have just had its Elijah Harper moment.

Brandishing a feather in her hand, Eileen Linklater announced her native band, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, is against bringing radioactive waste to the Flin Flon region.

"We don't want (any) nuclear waste in our territory," Linklater, a PBCN councillor, told officials studying the concept in May.

To say PBCN's opposition complicates the potential of nuclear-waste storage in Creighton, Flin Flon's sister community just across the Saskatchewan border, is an understatement. Creighton (pop. 1,498) is involved in the early, learning phase with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), which is mandated to find a site to stockpile Canada's nuclear waste. The waste -- spent nuclear fuel rods from nuclear power plants -- will be buried about 500 metres underground in a highly secure repository.

The geology of the chosen area must be sound, but just as importantly, surrounding residents must convincingly demonstrate they want the project. On that point, NWMO has placed heavy emphasis on the will of First Nations people, recognizing they have "unique status and rights," says the agency's website. With this in mind, Linklater attended a May meeting of the Community Liaison Committee, a group that forms a bridge between Flin Flon-Creighton-area residents and NWMO.

During question period, she dropped the bombshell that her band had adopted a resolution opposing any nuclear-waste storage "in or around PBCN communities, lands, or traditional territories." "You should know of the pros and cons," Linklater, a grandmotherly figure with a no-nonsense air about her, told the meeting. "All you think about is money here. Money. But after that money is gone, what's going to happen?"

PBCN is one of the largest native bands in Saskatchewan, with over 10,000 members in northeastern Saskatchewan. Many PBCN members live in Flin Flon-Creighton, and even more utilize the community as a service centre.

Despite the band's lucidly worded resolution, NWMO says Creighton remains in the learning phase of the project along with more than a dozen Ontario communities. "NWMO will continue its efforts to engage PBCN, to answer their questions, address their concerns and understand their views on Canada's plan for the safe, long-term care of used nuclear fuel," said NWMO spokesman Mike Krizanc. Krizanc reiterated, as he often does, that Creighton is in the early stages of a lengthy procedure to learn about nuclear-waste storage.

MORE:

[ http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinio ... 50241.html ]
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New foe of nuclear-waste storage

Postby Oscar » Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:30 am

New foe of nuclear-waste storage

[ http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... ice=mobile ]

Opaskwayak Cree Nation council passes ban of transport

By: Alexandra Paul

Posted: 07/29/2014 1:00 A.M. Last Modified: 07/29/2014 12:27 PM

There will be no nuclear waste buried in Creighton, Sask., if a pair of First Nations get their way.

Both Opaskwayak Cree Nation, which is near The Pas, and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, near Creighton, have passed bans on nuclear waste from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick passing through their traditional territory and being stored there.

OCN passed its ban in a bylaw, known as a band council resolution, July 14.

Creighton, which sits next to Flin Flon, agreed to stand as one of four sites in Canada that could eventually store radioactive nuclear waste.

OCN and Peter Ballantyne are ready to stand against a deep-rock repository dug in the granite bedrock of this remote town.

"It's dangerous. What happened in Chornobyl, eh? In Japan? They always say it's safe, but accidents do happen," Opaskwayak Cree Coun. Edwin Jebb said Monday.

"If they do go through with it, it would come through our community or our traditional territories, if they go by rail or by truck. That's Highway 10. They'd come right smack through our community," Jebb said. "What this does is tells the public and it tells our community members what the official position of council is, that we're against the transportation of dangerous goods and nuclear waste through our community."

Creighton, with a population of 1,500, is 145 kilometres north of OCN and 770 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

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[ http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... ice=mobile ]
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Re: Northern band says 'no' to nuclear waste - July 2014

Postby Oscar » Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:13 am

Burying radioactive waste near Creighton fraught with danger, activist warns

[ http://www.thereminder.ca/news/local-ne ... -1.1650853 ]

Don’t bring waste here: activist

Jonathon Naylor , Editor / Flin Flon Reminder December 3, 2014 12:05 PM

Burying radioactive waste near Creighton is a notion fraught with danger, cautions a leading anti-nuclear activist.

Dr. Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, said the concept inherently carries daunting risks. “Things happen that you did not anticipate, and if this happens in a serious way with these high-level nuclear wastes, you have a very serious contamination problem on your hands,” said Edwards, a Montreal-based mathematician.

In a phone interview, Edwards, 74, said he is most worried about two long-term possibilities: environmental contamination and the reprocessing of the waste to extract plutonium.

“After, let’s say, the first 1,000 years, the main danger is not external radiation…it’s a question of leakage into the water system, leakage into the groundwater, into the surface waters and ultimately into the food chain,” he said.

Edwards said that over a long period of time – exactly how long is debatable – the metal containers in which the waste is stored will disintegrate. “Nobody has studied these materials over these long periods of time – 5,000 years is a drop in the bucket,” he said.

“If you’re talking about 100,000 years, look…at the state of the pyramids and ask yourself, ‘These things are only 5,000 years old. Are they in great shape?’ No. Things deteriorate.” Once the containers disintegrate, Edwards said, the spent nuclear fuel rods inside will “ultimately crumble – and when things crumble, they get into the groundwater and they get transported.” Edwards said history of full of examples in which toxic materials have been disposed of through burial only to “come back to plague future generations.”

He mentioned the famous case of Love Canal, a neighbourhood in the US built atop a toxic waste burial site. The waste was linked to health problems and the government paid to relocate hundreds of families. Edwards further referenced Sarnia, Ontario, where toxic chemicals were injected deep into the earth only to resurface in the St. Clair River as “toxic blobs.”

And after the First World War, he said, poison-gas canisters were dumped into the Black Sea but came “bubbling back up to the surface” as harmful contaminants decades later. “In other words, there’s no examples of how we’ve [disposed of hazardous materials] in the past,” Edwards said.

What also concerns him is the possibility of the nuclear waste, once moved to a central location, being reprocessed to extract plutonium for sale or for further generation of electricity. Reprocessing would yield a “high-level radioactive liquid waste” that is “far more dangerous because it’s much more mobile in the environment,” Edwards said. He said countries such as the United Kingdom, India, Russia and France have invested in reprocessing because they know there is a finite supply of uranium, the element that is enriched to produce nuclear power. “The fact of the matter is, if they want to keep the nuclear industry going, they’re probably going to have to use plutonium as a fuel in the future,” Edwards said of Canada’s nuclear power industry.

He agreed there is currently no rationale to reprocess nuclear waste, but said the waste storage project is still decades away from completion. Canada’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is in the early stages of determining where to locate an underground repository to store the nation’s exhausted – but still radioactive – nuclear fuel rods.

One possibility is a site just outside Creighton, but NWMO has said that will only happen if area residents and First Nations are supportive. Two First Nations have indicated their opposition, as have many residents. NWMO and its scientists and engineers have vigourously defended the safety of the repository concept, citing internal and external research.

As for the suggestion that plutonium will be extracted from the waste, NWMO communications manager Mike Krizanc has said his organization will not make any decisions around reprocessing, as it is only mandated to deal with nuclear waste. NWMO must “play the cards we’re dealt,” he said at a public meeting earlier this year, and as unlikely as reprocessing is, it would create nuclear waste.

MORE:

[ http://www.thereminder.ca/news/local-ne ... -1.1650853 ]
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