SK POLL: 75% say NO TO NUKE WASTE!

[Oscar]

Seventy-five percent do not want nuclear waste disposal sites in Saskatchewan, says public opinion poll

MEDIA RELEASE September 26, 2012

Three-quarters of the people in Saskatchewan don't want radioactive waste brought into the province and deposited in underground storage.

That's the message from a public opinion survey conducted from September 10 -16, 2012. The study was commissioned by CAPE (Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment) and the HUES3 Campaign (Health, Uranium, Environment: Sustainability, Survival, Solidarity).

“The nuclear industry has not found a way to dispose of the over 270,000 tonnes of high-grade radioactive waste generated around the world. Now the industry knows for certain that no one wants it brought to Saskatchewan," says Dr. Warren Bell, Salmon Arm, BC, a prominent member of both CAPE and the HUES3 Campaign.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) continues to target three communities in Saskatchewan as sites for radioactive waste reprocessing and disposal: Pinehouse, Creighton and English River First Nation.

The failure by government to ban the importation of radioactive waste (as done by Manitoba and Quebec) means Brad Wall’s administration in Saskatchewan is allowing the NWMO to create totally unnecessary tensions and division within northern communities. (The NWMO is an industry organization tasked with disposing of the mounting waste from nuclear reactors in Ontario, New Brunswick, Quebec and the U.S.)

The citizens of Saskatchewan, through the UDP Hearings in 2009, rejected high-level radioactive waste disposal in the province. The recent Oraclepoll Research Ltd. survey asked several questions intended to measure how public opinion on nuclear industry expansion compares today with opinion in 2009. Among other results, it found that the Government does not have a mandate to allow waste disposal to proceed here. 75% of citizens are opposed; only 15% support the plan; another 10% are undecided. (See attached report.)

QUESTION POSED: “The Canadian nuclear industry wants to transport high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power reactors in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, to northern Saskatchewan for storage. Do you support or oppose this plan?”

STATISTICAL RESPONSE: 18 years of age or older, 800 persons, margin of error +/- 3.5%, 19/20 times.

For more information contact:

D’Arcy Hande
HUES3 Campaign
H: (306) 249-1392
C: (306) 220-0321

OR

Candyce Paul
Committee for Future Generations
H: (306) 288-2079
C: (306) 288-3157

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September Omnibus Survey Report

September 19, 2012

METHODOLOGY & LOGISTICS

STUDY SAMPLE

 This report represents the findings from an omnibus survey of voting age Saskatchewan residents (18 years of age or older).
 Interviews were conducted between the days of September 10th and September 16th 2012. Polling was conducted as part of a national omnibus survey where residents of Saskatchewan were oversampled and asked a total of four questions.

CONFIDENCE

 The margin of error for this 800-person survey is +/- 3.5%, 19/20 times

SURVEY METHOD

 The survey was conducted using computer-assisted techniques of telephone interviewing (CATI) and random number selection. A total of 20% of all interviews were monitored and the management of Oraclepoll Research Limited supervised 100%.
 Some results may not add up to 100% as a result of rounding.

LOGISTICS

 Initial calls were made between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Subsequent callbacks of no-answers and busy numbers were made on a (staggered) daily rotating basis up to 5 times (from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.) until contact was made. In addition, telephone interview appointments were attempted with those respondents unable to complete the survey at the time of contact.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Respondents were first asked the following question related to their support or opposition to a plan to transport radioactive waste to northern Saskatchewan.

“The Canadian nuclear industry wants to transport high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power reactors in Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, to northern Saskatchewan for storage. Do you support or oppose this plan?”

(GRAPHICS:)

15% 75% 10%

Support Oppose Don't know

Three-quarters of Saskatchewan residents surveyed or 75% oppose the transportation of radioactive nuclear waste to the north of the province for storage, compared to only 15% that support it, while 10% did not know or were unsure.