To the editor,
Tony Zettel reports in his letter (“Experts explain radiation to South Bruce residents” – Sept. 22) on a meeting to discuss the proposed deep geological repository (DGR) in South Bruce. He claims the speakers “debunked the idea that a DGR would ever pose a risk to the land or water in South Bruce.”
Not really. To allege that no risks would “ever” be posed is empty rhetoric: a statement without evidence. If we look at the actual evidence, nuclear waste facilities throughout the world have bad records of fires, explosions, flooding, and sundry mishaps – for example, the fires at the WIPP facility in New Mexico in 2014, the Lawrence Livermore Lab adjacent fires in California in 2020, the rockslide collapse at the Bure waste facility in France in 2016, and the abandonment of the Asse waste facility in Germany.
A list of many radioactive waste incidents may be found online on Wikipedia (search “Nuclear and readiation accidents and incidents”) and a sobering account of the litany of nuclear waste accidents and incidents in Europe can also be found at worldnuclearwastereport.org.
Mr. Zettel also opposed the idea that “radiation would ever cause a health risk.” This sweeping statement is also made without evidence. The reality is that all radiation exposures – no matter how small – carry some degree of risk.
According to NWMO reports, radioactivity will be released into the environment from the DGR site but these releases will allegedly be within limits specified by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). How can we be sure? And are these CNSC limits safe?
Dr. Boreham ‘s statements regarding the effect of radiation are similar to those made by scientists and doctors in the 1970s and 1980s supporting the tobacco industry. For decades they stated that cigarette smoking was unlikely to result in cancer. History has proved these statements to be false, and I wonder if current assertions regarding the effects of radiation will be viewed similarly in future years.
Also, if there is no harmful impact to humans from radiation exposure, why has the CNSC established limits that must be adhered to by the nuclear industry and others? Is the effort to create these CNSC requirements a waste of taxpayer’s money?
The real question is whether South Bruce residents will find these risks and the social impacts of the proposed NWMO project acceptable or not.
Let there be a referendum.
Bill Noll
Formerly of South Bruce, now living in Stittsville, Ont.
