IGNACE – With the site selection of Canada’s Deep Geological Repository set for late 2024, the Municipality of Ignace and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization have organized events featuring a wide range of experts in the field of energy to provide the public with a chance to learn more about nuclear power.
Last week's Nuclear Exploration Event in Ignace saw physics professor Dr. Jason Donev from the University of Calgary give a presentation suggesting the depiction of the nuclear industry in popular media has contributed to emotional responses, such as anxiety and fear, over nuclear energy.
The event comes as potential plans to locate a deep geological repository at Revell Lake, near Ignace, remain the subject of controversy and opposition from some residents.
Donev says he regularly speaks with people from across the political spectrum about various energy issues and combating climate change.
“The science around spent nuclear fuel is very subtle. The safe way to handle it is something that every country in the world that has nuclear power has come to basically the same conclusion. It is safe to dig a hole and safely store the nuclear waste,” stated Donev in an interview with NWOnewswatch.
“So that's the solved problem that the public often doesn't understand is a solved problem. We've known how to do that for decades and our technology and our understanding keeps getting better. What's difficult to understand is the way that people have an emotional response to complex scientific topics,” he continued.
Donev alludes to one of the most relevant images in the history of nuclear technology. Oppenheimer's atomic bomb, which has captivated humanity for the last 70 years.
“If you'll excuse the expression, the nuclear industry has been under the mushroom cloud of how the world was introduced to nuclear technology," he said. "There are a lot of things I love about the Oppenheimer movie, but the thing I love the best about it is that it portrays Oppenheimer as a man, and it gives a chance for his story and the complexity of the decision that he had to make largely on himself.”
Donev suggested that science and technology intersect with popular culture, shaping how humans relate to the nuclear industry.
“The money has already been set aside, which is very different from the narrative," he said. "The technology is well-settled, which is very different from the narrative."
"The funny thing is that people don't make decisions based on science. Stories are a powerful tool that the human mind uses to understand anything that's complex. So, the idea of stories becomes an essential thing for us to study."
For example, he points to the depictions from the animated television show The Simpson, which shows the oafish everyman Homer Simpson at the controls of the town’s nuclear power plant. To make a satirical point, nuclear energy is depicted as a solid green glowing rod. Once melted down, the used nuclear fuel is shown as a neon green goo.
These images are far from the truth, Donev said, holding up a used fuel rod container, which would hold hundreds of used fuel pellets.
“This right here is enough electricity for a family of four in Ontario for 100 to 200 years," he said. "The amount of spent nuclear fuel for an individual person in Ontario is roughly the same as three double A batteries, and it's going to cost less than $40 to dispose of that forever."
Donev said that Wabigoon Lake-Ignace area residents have the toughest decision to make over the next year. Whether they are willing to host or not host the DGR, the decision is “one of the most important decisions facing humanity” today, he said.
"Not because the nuclear waste is dangerous, it's perfectly safe where it is," he said. "Despite the stories that are around about that, we don't see Blinky the Fish actually being created."
Donev said he'd like to see the NWMO create a success story with the DGR to subvert the narrative surrounding nuclear energy as a destructive force to one that might solve the climate change crisis.
“If we can go through the process of actually picking a community, building a site that's properly licensed to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Impact Assessment Agency — if we can do that process, then nuclear can come to the table as a more effective part of the solution to fighting climate change."
