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Canada’s nuclear safety regulator has agreed to hold a public hearing into a controversial plan to ship 1,760 tonnes of radiation-laced steel through Lake Ontario.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said in a statement Thursday that “in light of public concern” over a proposal by Bruce Power to ship 16 steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway the commission will hold a one-day hearing to consider the plan.
Though opponents to the shipment had been lobbying for such a hearing, the wording in the commission’s statement has only added to their concerns that the proposal will be approved with or without any public debate or input.
In its statement announcing the hearing, the commission said it “will not issue a licence unless it is satisfied the shipment will be completed safely,” but added that the commission’s staff had already “concluded that there are no safety significance issues associated with the proposed shipment.”
Mike Bradley, mayor of Sarnia, one of several cities along the planned shipping route said Friday “there is no question the coalition of individuals and groups opposed to the shipment have forced the hearing. However, the position of (the commission) would suggest it’s simply a formality. It’s like a referee announcing the outcome of the game before the puck is dropped.”
Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, a watchdog group, agreed.
“In their announcement, they’ve already stated their conclusion that (the shipment) poses no risk,” he said. “I think they’re just saying let’s give people the chance to get the steam off their chest.”
Sunni Locatelli, spokesperson for the commission, responded to the criticism, saying the tribunal would consider the views of commission staff, Bruce Power and members of the public before passing judgment on the application.
On April 1, Bruce Power asked Canada’s nuclear regulator for a licence to ship the steam generators from its power plant on Lake Huron to Sweden, where 90 per cent of the metals inside the generators are to be recycled and resold.
The remaining materials that are too radioactive to be recycled will then return to the Bruce plant to be contained for the rest of their radioactive lives.
The generators, which spent more than 30 years inside the reactors at Bruce Power’s nuclear plant, contain thousands of small tubes that emit beta, gamma and alpha radiation.
Each generator, which weighs 110 tonnes and is the size of a school bus, has a 5-cm-thick steel shell and any holes in those shells would be welded shut before transport.
Though the shipment would go through the jurisdictions of two countries and multiple states and provinces, the commission, which generally acts as a public tribunal, had designated just one person to decide whether the shipment would proceed.
“We’re supportive of the commission’s decision (to hold a public hearing) and we likewise believe that this hearing will provide clearly the information that’s required to assure the public that this is a safe and worthwhile project,” said Murray Elston, vice-president of corporate affairs with Bruce Nuclear.
Elston has said the shipment poses little risk to public health, explaining that if a person stood within a few metres of one of the generators for a two-hour period they would receive radiation levels similar to a chest X-ray.
The public hearing will be held in Ottawa at the commission’s public hearing room on Sept. 29. Requests to take part in the hearing must be filed with the commission by Sept. 13.