Plan to make, move, burn, and bury enriched uranium fuel deserves scrutiny

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper would like to extend a special thank you to the volunteers, sponsors, and donors who made our June 24 fundraiser the most successful in our organization's history. Thank you for helping us win back Lake Ontario!

On Friday, June 24, 2005, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper submitted its comment on Cameco Corporation?s proposal to make, transport, burn, and bury enriched uranium fuel to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The proposal involves bringing enriched uranium from unnamed sources to Port Hope, Ontario, where it will be blended and packed into fuel bundles for nuclear power plants around the Great Lakes.

The new fuel has prompted bids to refurbish Ontario?s aging reactors and extend the life of the province?s power plants to the middle of the twenty-first century.

Waterkeeper, along with numerous community associations and environmental groups, are voicing concerns about the potential impacts of this proposal. To date, every community that has been part of the nuclear fuel cycle has found its air, soil, and water contaminated.

There is widespread public concern about the potential environmental impacts of this new fuel proposal, and Waterkeeper has called for a public hearing into the issue. Right now, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission simply publishes reports and allows the public to provide written responses and brief (ten minute) oral submissions.

In the hearing process, the public has the right to cross-examine industry spokespersons and the recommendation to proceed or not proceed is made by a panel of independent adjudicators. This kind of hearing is supposed to occur whenever a federal project is likely to have significant environmental impacts or when there is significant public concern.

You can learn more about province-wide concerns about the enriched uranium fuel project in our formal submission. The submission is available on our web site, www.waterkeeper.ca.