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An environmental advocacy group has released a report outlining concern over recent leaks at an aging nuclear reactor that sits on the shore of this city’s primary source of drinking water, according to recent reports.
Ottawa Riverkeeper Executive Director Meredith Brown, who is launching a campaign calling for increased accountability for spills into the Ottawa River, wrote on February 26: “Under the best of circumstances I am uncomfortable with the very idea of a nuclear reactor operating on the banks of the Ottawa River. But when that reactor is old and prone to leaks, I am particularly concerned”.
“Even more alarming is the fact that these leaks are not reported to the public, in detail, in a timely manner,” Brown concluded.
According to a February 28 report in The Ottawa Sun, Sun Media uncovered that the 51-year-old Chalk River nuclear facility had been leaking up to 7,000 liters (1,849 gallons) of water a day for more than a month from a crack in a weld.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission told Sun Media that the leaking water had “a very low level of radioactivity” and that it is not a safety concern. The water was released into the Ottawa River.
Brown’s report addressed statements made by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She wrote, “I did the math on the amount of tritium (a highly carcinogenic substance) contained in the heavy water being released. The results were alarming.”