NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP BESIDE LAKE HURON NOT A DONE DEAL

Last Friday's Waterloo Region Record has this Opinion piece by Thomas Walkom titled " Nuclear waste dump plans hit shaky ground". The initial plan called for low and intermediate radioactive wastes to be buried 680 metres below ground close to Lake Huron. First Nations representatives have recently made it clear that their approval is by no means a done deal. Also a consultant for the federal government has recently indicated dissatisfaction with Ontario Power Generation's calculations of the environmental impact.

The third recent problem is Ontario reactors are producing nuclear waste faster than expected. The Pickering plant is to be shut down and decommissioned by 2020. It's radioactive parts will need storage and OPG have already said that they will go to the Kinkardine facility. "Given that it's politically easier to expand an existing dump than build a new one, my guess is that such permission would almost certainly be granted.". "Bottom line: the Kinkardine project is now about demonstrably more than disposing of a few radioactive mops. At one point, it may have been an easy sell politically. It is no longer.".