WIN! Nuclear waste dump ruled out in Saskatchewan

[Oscar]

WIN! Nuclear waste dump ruled out in Saskatchewan

[ http://canadians.org/blog/win-nuclear-w ... skatchewan ]

March 4, 2015

The Council of Canadians has been opposing a high-level nuclear waste dump in Saskatchewan since 2011.

CBC now reports, "The NWMO [Nuclear Waste Management Organization] announced that new geological studies in the vicinity of Creighton, Sask. and Schreiber, Ont. 'revealed that areas assessed near both communities have geological complexities that reduce the likelihood of finding a suitable site for either area to safely host a used nuclear fuel repository. ...These latest studies show there is limited potential in the areas of Creighton or Schreiber to find a repository site that would meet the safety requirements of the project.'" [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-b ... -1.2979929 ]

While the NWMO may say Creighton lacks the suitable physical characteristics for the disposal of nuclear waste, it is also very true that a well-organized opposition developed against a nuclear fuel repository there. The grassroots fight against a nuclear waste site in northern Saskatchewan was led by the Committee for Future Generations and the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan.

Our chapters in Saskatchewan were active in opposing a nuclear waste dump. In May 2012, Council of Canadians Board member and Prince Albert chapter activist Rick Sawa and Regina chapter activist Jim Elliott were both present at the Saskatchewan Legislature for the presentation of a petition signed by 12,000 people against the nuclear waste storage site. As part of the effort to keep nuclear waste out of Saskatchewan, chapters and the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan organized speaking events with nuclear expert Dr. Jim Harding, author of Canada’s Deadly Secret, in Wynard, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, La Ronge and Regina. And in October 2013, the Council of Canadians awarded the Committee for Future Generations with our Activist of the Year award at our annual conference in Saskatoon.

The Council of Canadians congratulates the Committee for Future Generations, the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan and all others who opposed this nuclear waste proposal. The Committee for Future Generations says, "How do we portray the way we feel today? There aren't sufficient words to describe it. Today we are grateful to each and every person who contributed in any small way to ensuring there will be no high-level nuclear waste buried in Saskatchewan. Our future generations have been spared from this menace." [ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Committe ... 30?fref=nf ]

The CBC article adds that, "The NWMO continues to investigate the feasibility of nuclear waste storage in or near nine other communities, all of which are in Ontario. They include White River, Manitouwadge, Hornepayne, Ignace, Blind River, Elliot Lake, Central Huron, Huron-Kinloss and South Bruce." The Council of Canadians also extends its solidarity to these communities.

Brent Patterson
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Political Director of the Council of Canadians

Further reading

Walk against nuclear waste to challenge NWMO (July 2011 blog)
[ http://canadians.org/node/3340 ]

Council of Canadians backs petition and walk against nuclear waste in Saskatchewan (August 2011 blog)
[ http://canadians.org/node/7528 ]

Council activists attend petition delivery at Saskatchewan Legislature against nuclear waste (May 2012 blog)
[ http://canadians.org/node/8500 ]

Pinehouse and English River removed from nuclear waste dump shortlist (November 2013 blog)
[ http://canadians.org/blog/pinehouse-and ... -shortlist ]

WIN! High-level nuclear waste dump ruled out for Saugeen Shores (January 2014 blog)
[ http://canadians.org/blog/win-high-leve ... een-shores ]

[Oscar]

NO HIGH-LEVEL WASTE FOR CREIGHTON, SK

Media Release March 4, 2015

A four-year long battle against the threat of burying millions of highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods in Saskatchewan is over, thanks to thousands of people with the courage and wisdom to take a stand.

On March 3rd, Creighton was the last of three northern communities to be dropped by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) from site selection process for a deep geological repository. Pinehouse and English River First Nations were eliminated in late 2013.

“I am happy and thankful this is over. I can forget and forgive all the mean and cruel things said and done,” stated Creighton resident, Nadine Smart. “I have a sense of peace and relief, yet I’m sorry that nine (Ontario) communities are still fighting this. Nuclear waste should not be buried anywhere; it has to be kept above ground where it can be monitored, forever. This whole process is full of deception, money and bribes.”

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, within whose traditional territory the proposed deep repository would have been located, issued a Band Council Resolution in May of 2014 against nuclear waste and any promotion of its storage and transportation. PBCN maintained that jobs forecasted by NWMO were not worth the risk of radiating the water and land for future generations. Over 60% of the eligible voting population in Pinehouse and English River had also signed a petition against nuclear waste.

The Committee for Future Generations formed in May 2011 after Max Morin of Beauval was invited to an Elders gathering near Pinehouse, where he discovered NWMO representatives promoting nuclear waste storage as the solution to youth suicide. Ten Elders immediately rose and walked out. It was the first time Morin had ever seen a Sacred Circle broken. “People need to keep educating themselves on the hazards of the nuclear fuel chain and on the way the industry deceives the public for its own gain. We cannot take for granted that corporations are working for our best interest. Grassroots is powerful. We need to push our leaders to invest in energies and economies that are sustainable, like solar, wind and geothermal. We have the knowledge and the means to do it.”

Eliminating Saskatchewan from nuclear waste storage also cancels any chance of reprocessing plutonium taking place in the province. "Who would have thought a few little Indians would have the power to knock down a giant?” reflected CFFG founding member, Fred Pederson from Pinehouse, another community whose administration was paid to engage with NWMO in site selection process. “This is what happens when people stick together and fight for what they believe in, against terrorism of our land."

“No industrial corporation or government has the right to manipulate the true spirit of Aboriginal stewardship,” emphasized CFFG member Marius Paul of English River First Nation. “The process that NWMO is following to secure a burial site for the most lethal waste product on earth is still the same systematic oppression that Aboriginal peoples have faced since the beginning of colonialism.” -30-

Media Contacts

Nadine Smart, Creighton Saskatchewan: 204-687-6549
Candyce Paul, English River First Nation: 306-288-2079

[Oscar]

Welcome Decision: No High-Level Nuclear Waste for Saskatchewan

[ http://tinyurl.com/lof4yun ]

by David Geary. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, March 9, 2015

EXCERPT:

The waste burial proposition contains much unproven and highly speculative science and technology. Aspects of it were even criticized by NWMO's International Technical Review Group. As well, its computer models cannot show the validity and predictive values needed over the required longtime scales (millennia).

Deficiencies also remain in the geological and hydrogeological concepts. Other serious problems include the risk of accidents and contamination during transportation of the fuel bundle casks, security and terrorism concerns, and the threat to the public and workers of radiation exposure.

Another concern, if such a deep geological repository is established, is that it could open the door to Canada being forced to take radioactive waste from other countries - for example, under NAFTA regulations.

However, we must do something about managing Canada's high level radioactive waste. One rational proposal, endorsed by more than 150 environmental and scientific organizations, is Hardened On Site Storage at or near reactor sites, where scientific, technical and security expertise is already located. On-site storage combined with rolling stewardship would keep nuclear waste safely isolated from the public and the environment, contained and secure, but still in sight for ongoing monitoring.