THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay-Rainy River’s member of Parliament says he understands why some of his constituents are opposed to nuclear waste disposal in the region, but he supports this week’s decision to build a deep geological repository in Northwestern Ontario.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization announced Thursday it has selected a location south of Highway 17 between Wabigoon Lake and Ignace as the site of a future underground repository for spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear power plants.
“I know a lot of people are upset about it,” Powlowski, a Liberal government MP, said Friday after a news conference for Nature Conservancy of Canada.
“I acknowledge that. I know there are a lot of really good, decent people who are totally opposed to this,” he said.
Powlowski, who is also a physician, said he is always concerned about public safety as “somebody who spent my whole life trying to look after people’s health and protecting people’s health.”
Opponents of the repository have expressed concerns about risks involved in transporting high-level nuclear waste to a repository but “I really do believe that the risks are absolutely minimal,” he said.
Canada has a solid safety record in transporting nuclear materials, and the canisters for spent fuel rods have been crash-tested, he said.
“So I think I understand people’s concern, but I really do think that the risk is absolutely minimal. Otherwise I would be totally against it, and I’m not totally against it,” he said.
“Why am I not totally against it? Somebody’s got to take the stuff right now. A lot of it is being stored above surface near Lake Ontario, where there is a far bigger risk to it leaking out and affecting people.”
“For the greater good,” Powlowski said, “somebody’s got to take (the nuclear waste).”
Also, he noted, “on the good side, it’s about $20 billion coming to northern Ontario, which is going to be huge economically.”
As an aside, he pointed out that the repository’s proponent, the NWMO, is “a body which is arm’s length from the government.
“It’s not the government, it has nothing to do with me, I did not contribute to this decision,” he said. “It was their decision that was made.”
Contacted by Newswatch for comment on the NWMO’s decision, Conservative MP Eric Melillo sent a written statement saying he respects the organization’s decision and appreciates Wabigoon Lake and Ignace “for their work throughout the willingness process.”
In a referendum earlier this month, Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation members voted to continue in the process toward building a deep geological repository.
Ignace township council voted to continue as a potential host municipality in July.
“I look forward to working with the host communities and NWMO on the next steps of this process,” said Melillo, whose Kenora riding includes Ignace and Wabigoon Lake.
Greg Rickford, who represents Kenora-Rainy River in the Ontario legislature, posted on social media a statement saying the provincial government “is committed to working alongside local residents, Indigenous partners and businesses to ensure this project creates safe legacy infrastructure and economic benefits” for the region.
The NWMO estimates construction of the deep-underground facility could begin in 2033 and be completed about 10 years later.
