The Ontario energy minister’s response to a petition asking the province to mandate a “proximity principle” for the disposal of nuclear waste is inadequate, Thunder Bay–Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois said Tuesday.
“I suppose I’d say it’s a typical response. It doesn't really answer the questions that are raised,” Vaugeois said in a phone interview from Queen’s Park.
One key issue that’s unaddressed is the matter of what communities must be “willing” communities for a deep geological repository (DGR) for spent nuclear fuel, she said.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO) “willingness process” applies to the town of Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, where the DGR could be built, she said.
“But what about all the people who are downstream of the location? What about all the people who are along the transportation route and so on?”
She described the NWMO as “a child of the nuclear industry” that “spends an enormous amount of money” trying to convince people of the safety of its DGR plan.
Vaugeois said she is not against nuclear power but “I continue to have concerns that the government has not done its due diligence in (considering) the critiques and worries” about the idea of transporting spend nuclear fuel from southern Ontario to the province’s Northwest.
“What I see is an assertion that everything’s going to be fine,” she said.
Vaugeois and two other MPPs — fellow New Democrat Sol Mamakwa of Kiiwetinoong and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, who represents Guelph — presented in late May a petition calling on the province to adopt the proximity principle in regard to nuclear waste disposal and storage.
The petition was initiated by the northern Ontario group We the Nuclear Free North and a southwestern Ontario group called Protect Our Waterways. About 1,140 signatures were on the petition presented to the legislature in late May, but organizers said about 1,000 more had been collected.
The government’s written response, signed by Energy Minister Todd Smith, begins by stating the importance of “safe and responsible management of all spent nuclear fuel” as part of a “clean electricity” system.
The letter says continued storage of spent fuel at reactor sites is a temporary measure and “not a disposal option and does not represent international best practice.”
DGRs, the letter says, are a best practice “becoming a reality in several countries.” Finland’s DGR will soon go into operation while Sweden and Switzerland are moving forward with plans for DGRs of their own, according to the letter.
The NWMO is studying ways to transport spent nuclear fuel safely, and each option will be tested by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the letter states.
Smith’s response concludes by declaring the Ontario government’s support for the NWMO’s efforts toward selecting a “willing host” for a DGR to begin operation between 2040 and 2045.
Mamakwa’s office declined to comment on Smith’s letter.
Jake Pastore, a public relations consultant for the Township of Ignace, said Smith’s response is more information for the “willingness process” as the township considers whether it wants to be a host community to the NWMO’s DGR.
Ignace council continues to be neutral on the question, Pastore said.
