===== A message from the 'toxicscaucus' discussion list =====

Ottawa Citizen
Tue 27 Jul 1999 News A1 / Front
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----

Bruce area up in arms over nuclear expansion: Researchers link U.S. plant leaks to cancer
Illustration:

Black & White Photo: Ontario Hydro's successor wants to build 1,200 new concrete-and-steel silos in position 5, above, at its Bruce plant to store waste fuel from the eight reactors on the site.; Black & White Photo: The Ottawa Citizen / The Bruce site has several dozen silos storing waste fuel from an old prototype reactor that is no longer in use.

Residents near the Bruce nuclear plant, Canada's biggest nuclear complex, are taking Environment Minister Christine Stewart to court over her approval of expansion at the plant.

Ontario Power Generation, which owns the plant on Lake Huron, wants to build more than 1,200 new concrete-and-steel silos to store highly radioactive used fuel from the eight reactors.

People in the Bruce area are deeply split on the project. Some want the jobs, while some wanted the waste storage project delayed so a public environmental assessment could be completed.

This spring, the environment minister decided not to order any hearings because ``the project, as described, is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.''

Now the opponents will ask the Federal Court to overturn her decision and force more public scrutiny of the project -- either a hearing or appointment of an independent mediator.

Bob MacKenzie of the Inverhuron District Ratepayers' Association argues the law demands a hearing where there are ``areas of uncertainty'' about public risk.

There are already low-level leaks from the plant that affect the local environment, especially water in the streams and wells. Building new waste storage silos ``is adding risk upon risk without measuring in a full and complete way,'' Mr. Mackenzie said.

But Ontario Power Generation, formerly Ontario Hydro, says the new silos are proven technology.

``We've had it at Pickering (a nuclear station east of Toronto) for two or three years,'' said company spokes-man Ted Gruetzner. ``A lot of other jurisdictions have it. It's not a new concept.''

He said emissions from the site are so tiny they're almost beyond measurement, and are far lower than the amount of radiation a person is exposed to in the natural environment.

The Bruce site also has several dozen silos storing waste fuel from an old prototype reactor no longer in service.

The silo controversy also shows the breakdown of a generation of planning to find a permanent resting spot for Canada's high-level radioactive waste.

There was supposed to be a permanent disposal place for used uranium fuel, usually seen as a deep hole in the Canadian Shield, by 2000. But Canada's auditor-general described in 1995 how a series of delays pushed that date back to at least 2025, and since then even more delays have stalled the search.

That means the waste from making energy today will need storage at various nuclear plants until at least 2030. Ontario has 20 reactors at three sites, while Quebec and New Brunswick have a reactor apiece.

This week in Ottawa, U.S. researchers will describe research that links leakage from nuclear reactors in the Long Island area and high levels of strontium, a radioactive material, in children's teeth. The conference is focusing on possible causes of breast cancer. Jay Gould, leader of the project, wouldn't give full details yesterday about the relationship between radiation and breast cancer in New York State. He said the formal announcement of all the project's results will come in September.

Ontario Power Generation says it's unfair to compare its emissions with those in the Long Island-area study.

The emissions in Canada are mainly tritium -- a mildly radioactive form of water -- as opposed to strontium. Ontario Power Generation says tritium is less dangerous because the body flushes it out like water instead of storing it in teeth and bones.

But some of the people still want a public hearing into the expansion. 
``They would like an opportunity to have a full, transparent process of review,'' said their lawyer, Rod Northey.

Eugene Bourgeois, a farmer near the plant, says it's ``very disturbing'' that the local water is 10 to 15 times more radioactive than water outside the area.

``We have no evidence that these are unsafe levels,'' he said. ``But prudence would say that you limit your exposure.''

--
Peter Ronald
Tel: 250.361-3621
Fax: 250.361-3682
Email: impulse@islandnet.com

Translate this page automatically.