NUCLEAR WASTE AND THREATS TO MANITOBA WATERS  

What is High-Level nuclear waste?  

“High level nuclear waste” consists mainly of the fuel rods that are removed from nuclear reactors  once they are so radioactive as to be no longer useful for generating energy. They contain a wide range of radioactive elements, some of which do not occur in nature, and some of which remain radioactive for literally millenia. They are also extremely hot and will kill an exposed human in  minutes.  

These properties mean they must be isolated from the environment, shielded and cooled in water for at least 10 years at the reactor sites before they can be moved into “dry” storage. Currently, there are some 3.3 million fuel rod bundles stored in cooling pools or in temporary dry storage in Canada (mostly in Southern Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec). And this number grows every day a nuclear reactor keeps running.  

What are Deep Geological Repositories?  

The final storage solution for high level nuclear waste has been the subject of debate worldwide since the dawn of the nuclear industry in the 1940s. No country has yet developed and  implemented a safe and socially acceptable solution, though many, including Canada, are  focussed on developing so-called “Deep Geological Repositories” (DGRs). DGRs are essentially  envisaged by the nuclear industry as very deep holes and lateral tunnels like a mine drilled in  bedrock. Specially designed waste-holding canisters would be placed in the tunnels and when the  excavation is full, the hole would be filled with buƯer materials and grout. After a period of monitoring, the site would be closed up and shut down.  

What are the risks to water?  

Research has focused on how to isolate the canisters and their contents from the inevitable ingress of groundwater into the cavern for enough time to prevent radioactive contamination of ground and connected surface waters.  

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization, or NWMO, (consisting of the major players in Canada’s nuclear industry) is communicating that a DGR will be a safe solution. NWMO has an  interest in implementing a DGR as it will help to clear out the at-reactor temporary storage areas which are at, or nearing capacity, to allow for the production of more high-level waste.  

Others including some nuclear scientists and engineers are not so sure and point to the risk of contamination of entire watersheds if radioactive water escapes the repository. If radioactive contamination is detected in the future, there will be no way to contain it, and no way to retrieve the thousands of buried canisters to rectify the problem.  

Leakage from a repository is not the only way that radiation could enter the environment. The transportation of millions of canisters, and the “repackaging” of waste canisters to burial canisters at the DGR site are also potential accident and exposure points.  

How does site selection work? 

NWMO is planning to announce the site of Canada’s future DGR late in 2024. Their site search process has resulted in two possible options: Teeswater in Bruce County, southern Ontario; and the Revell area of Northwest Ontario – between the towns of Ignace and Dryden. The town of Ignace is considered to be the potential “host community” for the Revell site, and on July 10, 2024, Ignace  Town Council voted in favour of being a “willing host” for this massive storage hole in the ground and the accompanying transfer facility.  

NWMO provided Ignace a half million dollar signing bonus, in addition to many donations and monetary contributions to local initiatives leading up to the vote.  

What are the problems with the NW Ontario site and selection process?  

Problems abound with this “willingness” declaration, not the least of which is that the site in question is not even in Ignace or in the same watershed. The Revell batholith site, 45 kilometres west of Ignace, lies on the watersheds of both the Rainy River which flows into Lake of the Woods, and thence to the Winnipeg River and Lake Winnipeg, and the English River which flows north through Lac Seul and into Lake Winnipeg.  

If the northwest Ontario site is chosen, the waste will have to be transported to Revell - several massive shipments daily for 40 years for the existing waste - along the often-treacherous route  skirting Lake Superior. It must then be “repackaged” in a surface facility. Little is publicly known about what this entails, but any accidents and even routine cleaning will result in radioactive pollution to the surrounding waters.  

Are there First Nation concerns?  

First Nations along the downstream routes have expressed their opposition to this project. Chief Rudy Turtle of Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) was clear in his letter to the CEO of NWMO: “The water from that site flows past our reserve and into the waters where we fish, drink, and swim. The material that you want to store there will be dangerous for longer than Canada has  existed, longer than Europeans have been on Turtle Island, and longer than anything that human beings have ever built has lasted. How can you reliably claim that this extremely dangerous waste will safely be contained for hundreds of thousands of years?”  

His views are echoed by neighbouring chiefs, and other Treaty 3 First Nations have rejected nuclear waste transportation and abandonment through and in their territories. Wabigoon First Nation, the closest to the Revell site, will hold its own community referendum on willingness to host the site this fall. It’s not known how much money or other inducements NWMO has offered for a signing bonus.  

Has there been past opposition?  

In 1986, a citizens group in the Eastern Townships of Quebec successfully lobbied politicians on both sides of the border to reject a US proposal for a massive nuclear waste repository in Vermont, on a watershed flowing into Canada.  

Around the same time, Manitoba citizens convinced our government to oppose another proposed  US nuclear waste site – with potential for drainage to the Red River. And eventually, the NDP government of Howard Pawley passed Manitoba’s High-Level Radioactive Waste Act, banning nuclear waste disposal in this province.  

What is the Manitoba government’s position?  

We do not know where Manitoba stands today, even though the Revell site is not far from Manitoba and the water is flowing this way. No single town should be making decisions with such profound  risks to all of our health and futures. People who depend on Manitoba rivers and lakes (including  Winnipeggers, via our water supply from Shoal Lake) should be part of this decision. 

 

For more information please visit: https://wethenuclearfreenorth.ca/