Report challenges claim that nuclear waste can be safely buried

Northwatch News Release

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A coalition of environmental and social organizations in northeastern Ontario is welcoming a report released today that critiques the nuclear industry’s claims of a scientific consensus around the safety of burying nuclear waste in rock formations. Northwatch has followed the technical and political debates around nuclear waste for over two decades, and has criticized the various burial proposals put forward by the nuclear industry based on both social and technical deficiencies.

Released today, the study provides an overview research and scientific evidence regarding the notion of managing radioactive wastes in the long term by placing them in underground repositories. The study was done by a consulting group based in the United Kingdom and prepared in response to statements by international nuclear agencies that the technology related to geological disposal was well developed. The study found, in contrast, that agency conclusions had been largely derived from descriptions of ongoing research, and were based on the collective views of agency committee members rather than existing scientific evidence.

“The findings of this international study very much apply to the situation in Canada”, said Brennain Lloyd, a spokesperson with Northwatch.

“The nuclear industry in Canada cites the Swedish and Finnish programs as examples of what they call an ‘international consensus’ that burying nuclear waste will be an effective means of containing the radioactive hazards. But what public interest groups in Canada and internationally have been saying is that the technical case has not been made, and that no research program has yet been able to demonstrate that this can be done safely. This technical report supports that criticism, and provides a very helpful overview of where the research remains deficient.”

Northwatch is particularly concerned about claims the Nuclear Waste Management Organization may make to communities who they are asking to consider accepting an underground repository for Canadian nuclear fuel waste. The NWMO launched its search for a “willing host” community in May 2010. To date, two communities in northwestern Ontario – Ear Falls and Ignace – have formally indicated their interest in the program. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization refuses to disclose how many other communities – if any – they are in negotiation with.

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