How can NWMO make this claim?

To the editor,

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) refers to their proposed nuclear waste storage plan as the “internationally accepted best practice.” How can they make this claim when there are no operating deep geological repositories (DGRs) in the world for high-level nuclear waste?

The daily transporting of high-level waste, the repackaging of the used nuclear fuel bundles with the use of hot cells, and the DGR are all unproven experimental concepts.

Finland just began the excavation of their first deposition tunnel in the spring of 2021. The Finnish government has not yet approved an operating license to use the facility. The Onkalo geological repository will be the first in the world for used nuclear fuel.

Sweden, the country that designed the original container concept, has approved increasing their above-ground storage facility but is postponing their decision to approve the DGR. Studies are raising concerns that the five-centimetre copper coating could corrode quicker than predicted. The NWMO is predicting three millimetres should be thick enough.

Predictive models can fail. Bruce Power spoke before the CNSC at the beginning of September admitting that their predictive models had failed and they did not know why the hydrogen levels had risen above the allowable limits.

“Until now, the industry has relied on a combination of inspections and predictive modeling to estimate when tubes would reach that limit. The levels at the Bruce station indicate those predictive models have failed,” states the article More Issues at Bruce Power Station Raise Concerns About Aging Nuclear Infrastructure by Matt McLearn in the Sept. 3, 2021 Globe and Mail.

In 1967, the “internationally accepted best practice” was that salt mines would be the best geology to place nuclear waste. Germany followed that best practice experiment and today they are trying to figure out how to solve the radioactive leaks from the Asse II facility.

The proposed DGR concept, the repackaging facilities, and daily transporting of high-level waste will forever change our community. Each and every resident deserves to be able to choose if they want to be a part of this radioactive experiment. Each person deserves to choose if the benefits outweigh the risks. This is a decision that will affect every life in our community and every resident deserves a vote.

Complete articles and links to reports can be requested at nodgrsouthbruce@gmail.com.

Michelle Stein

Teeswater