Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-09-17, Page 1212 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, September 17, 2014 DGR Hearings Begin in Kincardine QM! Agency Ontario Power Generation is under- stating the hazards associated with the waste it is proposing to bury at its deep geological repository facility near Tiverton, according to a former OPG scientist But the panel also heard from fed- eral regulators and OPG that the facility would be safe. Dr. Frank Greening told the joint review panel loolcing into the proposed facility for low- and intermediate -level waste on Wednesday that OPG is not doing enough sampling to properly determine the level of radiation in the waste, while some compounds are even going unreported. "OPG has not made an acceptable safety case for its proposed DGR, but on the contrary has underestimated the chemical and radiochemical haz- ards associated with a significant por- tion of its wastes," Greening told the panel on the second day of two weeks of hearings on the proposed facility. Greening urged the panel to reject the DGR proposal. After Greening's presentation, panel chairwoman Stella Swanson told Greening his presentation contained new information they needed to con- sider before determining if it would be accepted. The panel is to make recommenda- tions to the federal minister of the envi- ronment, who can then authorize the panel to issue a licence to build the DGR, which would store everything from mop heads, rags and clothing to used reactor components. The mate- rial would be housed 680 metres below ground at OPG's Westem Waste Man- agement Facility at the Bruce nuclear site. The three-person independent panel held four weeks of public hear- ings into the proposed DGR late last year. Tens of thousands of pages of information was collected from the hearings. More hearings were sched- uled to run through Sept 18 to provide new information on subjects identified bythe panel. After the first round of hearings, Greening, who has a PhD in chemistry and worked for Ontario Hydro and then OPG for more than 30 years, raised concerns about the accuracy of OPG's inventory of nuclearwaste to be stored at the site. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization acknowledged Green- ing's concerns were valid, but even after re-numing its computer models with the new data, the NWMO said the DGR would be safe. Wednesday's proceedings opened with a presentation by OPG confirm- ing that the dose levels meet the crite- ria, and enhancements in the DGR will improve long-term safety. Glenn Round of OPG said that should there be any changes to the inventory of items going into the DGR, those items would be immediately analyzed to ensure they meet dose limits. Greening also expressed concerns that OPG is "playing the same kind of guessing games" with its predictions of the safety of the DGR, as those at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project in New Mexico. The first day of hearings focused on two incidents at the (WIPP) in New Mexico earlier this year -- a heavyvehi- de fire inside the salt -based repository for nudear weapons waste, and a radi- oactive release suspected to be caused by a chemical reaction in a container at the site. Errors, plus a lack of safety routines and proper regulatory oversight, con- tributed to accidents at the WIPP in New Mexico, representatives of OPG and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission told the RIP. "We at OPG take the events of the pre4e/vits- our 179/1/74nirtual Food PriA/& Septenythex /5 -Se,ptemithe,r 26, 20/4 During this two week period just place CANNED food items ONLY in UNTIED plastic bags next to your blue box for collection. The chart below shows the day for you to donate food to such a worthy cause. All of the food collected will be distributed throughout our service area. Thank you for your participation. PLEASE LOOK BELOW FOR YOUR DAY TO DONATE September 15 Monday September 16 Tuesday September 17 Wednesday September 18 Thursday September 19 Friday Bruce Twp/Tiverton Kincardine Twp South Bruce Peninsula 48 Kincardine Port Elgin Mildmay Chesley Elderslie Paisley Kincardine Twp Huron -Kinloss 2 Greenock Twp Tara Arran Twp Huron -Kinloss 3&5 September 22 Monday September 23 Tuesday September 24 Wednesday September 25 Thursday September 26 Friday Saugeen Twp South Bruce Peninsula 1 South Bruce Peninsula 4 Teeswater Brant Twp Formosa South Bruce Peninsula 2 South Bruce Peninsula 3 South Bruce Peninsula 5 Lucknow Huron -Kinloss 1,4,6 & 7 Walkerton South Bruce Peninsula 6 Southampton IMNI_Zi=nW occurrence at WIPP very seriously," said OPG's Laurie Swami, "OPG will continue to leam and monitor WIPP and incorporate any changes into our design and operating procedures:' The low and intermediate level waste that would be stored at the DGR, which does not include high-level used reac- tor fuel, is different from the weapons - based nudear waste at the WIPP, OPG representatives said. OPG staff outlined that its waste is well-documented, with "no evidence of strong chemical reactions in our stored volumes of waste." The waste under consideration for the DGR has "no strong oxidizers" which is sus- pected in the chemical reaction that led to the radioactive release. Many are unconvinced. They noted other facilities have failed and unfore- seen things can happen. Saugeen Shores' John Mann said WIPP was once said to be "state of the art" and comparable to the OPG DGR, but since the incident, OPG has "thrown WIPP under the bus:' Mann said the JRP needs to ask itself if a DGR is needed for "clothes and rags" referencing part of the low level waste, which will also be stored in the DGR to be included with more highly radioactive intermediate level nuclear waste. He said Quebec and New Brun- swick are storing them above ground, so the DGR isn't necessary. Kincardine resident Jutta Spletts- toesser compared the DGR with two German nuclear repositories that are leaking and shared her concerns it could happen in Bruce County. "I've knocked on the doors at municipal households and hundreds of households are very concerned," said Splettstoesser. She asked the JRP to deny the licence application for the OPG DGR. JRP members had many questions for Northwatch affiliate Don Hancock, who spoke about his experience deal- ing with WIPP in New Mexico. "The basic fact is there is not yet one example of a DGR that successfully operated to fulfill its mission to safely isolate the wastes from people and the environment for the thousands of years that they are hazardous," Hancock said. "Canada's challenge would be the first to build a successful DGR project.' The CNSC's Kate Klassen noted that some questions surrounding WIPP had yet to be answered, but mainte- nance, fire protection, training, qualifi- cation, emergency preparedness and response at WIPP were all "ineffective" and the fire hazard analysis "not comprehensive' A safety culture that saw workers "reluctant to bring up issues" as well as degraded equipment at the WIPP were two of many contributing factors in the incidents in New Mexico, Klassen said. Also, the contractor operating the WIPP was "not effective" in that its "oversight was lacking that the CNSC provides" to OPG's facilities. Beverly Fernandez of Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump told the panel her group has collected about 70,000 signatures from people who are against the DGR, a proposal she called "ill- conceived, non-compliant and contro- versial' Communities throughout the Great Lakes region have passed resolu- tions opposing the DGR. She sug- gested a better location would be a site far from people and far from large bod- ies of water in the granite of the Cana- dian Shield. The new round of hearings began with a prayer and statement from Sau- geen Ojibway Chief Vemon Roote and a statement by Chippewas of Nawash Chief Arlene Chegahno on Tuesday. Roote said his communityhas "deep concern" with the DGR project, but they are keeping an open mind. "The decisions made today will impact us forever"' said Roote, adding the serious- ness of it is "without precedent in the history of our community, or the coun- try for that matte Chegahno said she too is keeping an open mind, but said she respects OPG's commitment to a collaborative approach with the aboriginal commu- nities north of the Bruce nuclear site. "There are still many outstanding questions"' she said. "We will test what we hear. The DGR is a forever project and will forever alter the physical spirit, and will be part of the history of the Saugeen Ojibway for alltimes:' Valerie Gillies/Lucknow Sentinel Chalmers Presbyterian at Nine Mile Chalmers Prebyterian Church of Whitechurch held their September 7, 2014 service at Nine Mile Villa, Lucknow. They had done this at Easter as some of their congregation are now resident's at Nine Mile and were invited back. Organist for 42 years, Jean Ross (right) accompanied guest vocalist Jim Taylor, as well as leading the music for the service conducted by Chalmer's Pastor, Elly Dow L.P.M.