Jones assured no nuclear waste site around here

June 21, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Bill Rea
Concerns over the possibility of a nuclear waste disposal site being placed near Orangeville are unfounded.
Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones reported Thursday (June 20) that she had received such assurances from Ontario Power Generation (OPG).
The issue was sparked earlier in the week after a story appeared in the business section of the June 18 Toronto Star, referring to the possibility of a third nuclear waste disposal site in Ontario. It stated two such sites have already been publicly discussed, and there is now mention of a third, to store “decommissioning waste” from reactors that have been taken out of service and dismantled.
“That could conceivably place the proposed site somewhere in the Orangeville area, suggested Brennain Lloyd of Northwatch, who first noticed the proposal in a blizzard of documents filed with the safety commission,” the story stated. “Northwatch is a coalition of environmental and community groups in northeastern Ontario.”
The story also stated the idea of a separate site for decommissioning waste emerged from material filed by OPG at hearings into the license renewal for the Pickering nuclear station.
Jones reported Thursday that she had followed up on that, and learned the comments originated at a hearing of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, based on some extrapolations made by some applicants.
As for the possibility of third site going in the Orangeville area, Jones said the assurances she’s received from OPG are clear.
“No,” she said she was told. “That’s absolutely not the case.”