Opponents to a proposed underground storage site for spent nuclear fuel rods near Ignace believe their message is coming through, given the response so far to the proponent’s initial project description.
The public has until Wednesday to comment on the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s lengthy document submitted to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.
The We the Nuclear Free North citizen’s group has contended that the transportation of the fuel rods should be part of the proponent’s submission, given earlier concerns about potential road crashes expressed by rural municipalities and First Nations, including those near Thunder Bay.
“The majority of comments to date, which now number over 150, have highlighted the need for transportation to be included in a full assessment including a public hearing, and concerns about negative impacts of the project,” the group said this week in a news release.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has said that transportation is not part of the current stage of the project review process and, in any event, it said, there is a long track record in Canada of nuclear materials being transported safely without causing harm to people or the environment.
If the proposed storage site is approved, fuel rods could be railed or trucked to the Ignace-area site in specialized containers designed to withstand hard impacts, fiery crashes and immersion in water, the NWMO has said.
Comments on the project description can be made online at the assessment agency’s website at iaac.gc.ca.
