November 24, 2023
Chalk River nuclear waste site project “The place is wrong and the method is wrong”.
A proposed nuclear waste disposal site near the Ottawa River should be rejected because of the environmental risks it poses and because the authorization procedure is tainted by a conflict of interest, argue various aboriginal nations.
Jean-Thomas Léveillé – La Presse
Published Nov. 24, 2023
The development of a “near-surface waste management facility” (NSWMF) – a nuclear waste burial site – at Chalk River Laboratories, on the Ontario side of the river, has been the subject of an application for authorization studied since 2016 by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). A decision is expected in the coming weeks.
The proposed landfill would receive low-level radioactive waste for at least 50 years in the municipality of Deep River, near Chalk River, Ontario, one kilometer from the Ottawa River, close to a wetland.
It would consist of a man-made mound, equivalent in height to a five-storey building, made up of different storage cells and equipped with leachate collection, leak detection and environmental monitoring systems.
This design is “essentially the same” as that of any domestic hazardous waste landfill in Canada, whereas radioactive waste requires a “much stricter” level of protection, astonishes lawyer Theresa A. McClenaghan, Executive Director of the Canadian Environmental Law Association.
“You would never, ever, ever put a landfill in a wetland, and never this close to a major river […]. […] It’s absolutely appalling, we can’t believe it.”
Theresa A. McClenaghan, Executive Director, Canadian Environmental Law Association
In the event of a leak, radioactive material could enter the wetland and reach the Ottawa River, says Ms. McClenaghan, warning that the consequences could be multiplied tenfold in the event of an extreme weather event.
In this artificial mound, “there would be room for a million tonnes of radioactive waste”, which would remain there for centuries, says Justin Roy, band council member and economic development advisor for the Kebaowek First Nation in Quebec, one of a dozen Algonquin communities opposing the project.
The Ottawa River, which the First Nations call Kichi Sibi, is of great spiritual and cultural importance to them, not least because of the presence of sacred sites.
The cities of Gatineau and the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal are also opposed to the project, pointing out that the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River, into which it flows, are the source of drinking water for millions of people downstream of the Chalk River site.
Potential impacts “not trivial at all”
The health impacts of a potential leak “are not trivial at all”, worries Dr. Éric Notebaert, vice-president of the Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement and professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine.
“Any exposure to ionizing radiation, no matter how small, carries risks, especially if it’s chronic,” he explains. He is also concerned about the tritiated water, “radioactive water”, generated at Chalk River.
Its rapid penetration into DNA, demonstrated by animal studies, “can induce cancers, birth defects, deaths in utero,” says Dr. Notebaert, whose organization also opposes the project.
“The location is wrong and the containment method is wrong. Sooner or later, there will be runoff into the river. That’s very worrying.”
The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, for their part, maintain that their project will enable safe storage of waste thanks to a one-and-a-half-meter-thick bottom liner, a two-meter-thick cover, site monitoring and the possibility of carrying out repairs if necessary.
Apparent conflict of interest
One of the two commissioners responsible for reviewing the project application, Marcel Lacroix, previously worked at Chalk River Laboratories, according to his biography on the CNSC website. He holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering, is a professor at the Université de Sherbrooke and is an engineering consultant. The second commissioner has completed her term.
The Kebaowek and Kitigan Zibi First Nations see this as “a big problem”, says Justin Roy. He hopes the Commission will study the project objectively.
“The CNSC has never said no to a project, not once. Every time a project has been submitted, the CNSC has approved it.”
Justin Roy, Kebaowek First Nation
The CNSC “is very close to the industry it regulates,” says lawyer Theresa A. McClenaghan.
“You have to wonder whether the regulator is sufficiently independent when there are too many people from the regulated industry,” she says, arguing that this fuels the perception of bias or lack of independence on the part of the Commission.
For its part, the Commission assures us that the evaluation process is impartial.
“There is no conflict of interest. The Commissioners are appointed by the Governor in Council, that is, the Governor General, on the advice of Cabinet,” responded a spokesman for the organization, Braeson Holland, by e-mail, after declining La Presse’s request for an interview.
“Commissioners are committed to the highest ethical standards and guidelines regarding conflict of interest,” he added, noting Marcel Lacroix’s extensive expertise.
Contacted for this article, Marcel Lacroix did not return La Presse’s calls.
Rights denied
The First Nations deplore the fact that the project was able to go ahead without their free, prior and informed consent, a notion enshrined in Canadian legislation, and accuse the CNSC of failing to consult them properly.
The chiefs of three Algonquin communities were heard at the Commission’s final hearing in August, but were not allowed to ask the project proponent any questions, deplores Justin Roy.
The First Nations have not ruled out taking their case to court to challenge the Commission’s eventual authorization of the project.
They have also launched a petition, sponsored by the Bloc Québécois, calling on the federal government to submit nuclear reactor decommissioning and permanent waste disposal projects, such as Chalk River, to the International Atomic Energy Agency for review, and for the Commission to stay its decision on the matter until their rights have been respected.
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1945
Chalk River Laboratories begin operations, leading to the development of the CANDU nuclear reactor.
SOURCE: CANADIAN NUCLEAR SAFETY COMMISSION
1952
Chalk River Laboratories are the scene of the world’s first nuclear accident, on December 12. A second accident occurred in 1958.
SOURCE: HEALTH CANADA
Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area 