The Goderich Signal-Star, 1976-12-16, Page 40PAGE
0A•_GC)DERICH SIGNAL STAR, THURSDAY, DECFMBER 1k;, 1976
Hydro claims nuclear waste dispQsal .safe
BY JEFF SEDDON
Storage of irradiated fuel
from Ontario Hydro nuclear
powered generators will not
be a critical problem for 25
years according to Gary
Vivian, a. spokesman for
Hydro's Radiation Safety and
Waste Management d,wision.
Mr. Vivian said the provincial ..
utility faced a decision over
storage° facilities for the
radioactive .wastes in. 25
years., deciding at that time
whether to recycle some of
the spent fuel or dispose of it
for good.
Mr. Vivian -spoke at a
special media seminar held
• at Bruce Nuclear Power
Development Thursday: He
said"fuel waste management
at BNPD and other sites
operated by Hydro was one of
• the . most:-" con.traversial
subjects in the public eye. He
added that much of the
controversy was created by a
lack of knowlege or .poor
information claiming the risk
of-, a radioactive leak at the
Hydro sites was very slim.
"I don't think the risk is
unacceptable but •'it.•i
.s not
zero," said Mr, Vivian.
Mr• Viyian explained the
fuel burning . and disposal
systems used by Hydro,
claiming more is done to
protect public health. from
radioactive materials than is
done in any other industrial
field. He said the safety
measures used by Hydro
were complete, pointing out
that • the public' faced a
greater hazard from mercury
and lead pollutants -. than.
radioactive.
".'It's " like comparing , a..
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caged lion to a caged tiger,"
he said.
The nuclear waste expert
explained that the. public
would have to mix fact and
opinion together when
deciding for • themselves
whether they considered
nuclear.. power generators
safe, He said technology
could go only so far attesting
to the safety .of the reactors
and their spent fuel, and the
rest is opinion,,,
"I'm convinced. It's up to
you to decide," he said.
He said the main concern
over the irradiated fuel was
the problems, it creates if it
contacts . the environment.
The radioactive material., • if
contacted heavily enough by
humans, causes cancer.. Mr.
Vivian said his department's
apjective.is to keep the small.
volume of. pent fuel from the
reactors isolated from the
environment.
He dwelled on the point that
the spent fuel is in very small
quantities. He said after the
fuel -is taken from the reactor
. less than 1:3 percent of the
total fuel • bundle is
radioactive although the
small percentage is spread
throughout the entire bundle.
He said most of the uranium
that goes into the 'reactor is
unused and that the waste
consists of some fission
product's • and softie
plutonium. Theplutonium is
believed to 'be potential fuel
for the reactors with some
alterations done on it.
DECISION NOT URGENT
The .fact that the plutonium
is recyclable and that to date
, very little waste has come out
of the reactors at, BNPD and
other. Hydro reactor sites, has
enabled 'Hydro to delay
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deciding on permanent
storage sites for the nuclear
wastes, Mr. lolvian said
technology will need 20 to 25
years to work out the details
on recycling plutonium ad-
ding current fuel deposits are
predicted to last that long
with no difficulty,
Hydro is presently storing
nuclear wastes in a specially
designed pool of water right
on the; generator site. The
pool houses containers- of
spent fuel, all the fuel that has
been taken from the reactor
save some small amounts
that were shipped to Chalk
River for experimentation.
Hydro is currently in-
vestigating three basic
methods of storing the spent
fuel for the interum 25 years.
One is permanent water pools
very similar to the ones at the
generating site.. Pr second is.
Convection vaults specially
designed for the fuel and a
third is concrete silos,
The pools are proven safe
for storing the spent fuel but
require, constant upkeep and
-maybe inconvenient.
The silos a ,e also proven
and'have bee established at
Whiteshell ., Lear Research
Establishm;:nin Manitoba
• for quite •, fe rs. The
silos are • 'ove : ound and
can be' ecked by
technologists • regularly
and require no- regular
maintenance.
The convection vaults are
special buildings constructed,
with a• -field of cannister type
.containers in the centre.
Spent fuel bundles are put in
the-.cannisters and air'
currents constantly cool off
the filet.-- •
Another alternative Hydro
is investigatingis glass rock.
The theory with glass rock is
to grind the radioactive
material up and mix it with
movement upsetting the
storage area and releasing
the radioactive waste to the .
environment. He said•if such
a movement took place the
only danger would be if water.
came in contact with the
Waste. and became
radioactive.
He explained that even if
t the water did come in contact'
by the time it made its way
through the solid rock, ,was
filtered through the miles of
ground between the waste
and the earth surface and was
biologically broken down
there would be virtually no
radioactive ,rnaterial left to
endanger man.
•
OTHER WASTES
BURIED OR BURNED
The other wastes produced
b'y nuclear.. reactors "gloves,
clothing, equipment and
rags" are being isolated from
the environment according to
Bob Evans, supervisor of
services for BNPD. Mr.
.14
•
14.
glass forming a radioactive IN
material much like porcelain. '3
The glass rock would then be 'i :
stored in one of the con INT
-
ventional•-methods.is
The decision faced by . .
nuclear scientists�in 25 years
is how to permanently store b..
the spent fuel. The expected
life of fission products, part of te
the .waste, is 300 years and the 7�
life of the plutonium_ is a
quarter of a million years..
"Theologians, ar- :.
chaeologists and geologists
think in " periods of 'that.
length," said Mr. Vivian. "`To
ffi the general public it is
—for -ever.' •_... _ - T
He explained, however,
that some geologic formation
existing today in Canada
have been stable) and intact
for billions of years. He said
the formations, some of them
a mile deep .,by three miles
wide, tike the Canadian
Shield, maybe ideal and safe •
places to bury nuclear
He explained that the
ground never moved in the
formations and that there is
very little risk of any such
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•
Hydro_
centre
Ontario Hydro • has
established a new reference
centre to provide quick and
easy public .access to Hydro
publications. ,
The centre, located on the
mezzanine floor of Hydro'
Place, 700 University Avenue,
Toronto, features documents,
reports and submissions.
Brochures on various Hydro
subjects, written in•a direct,
non-technical . style, . are
available as handout
material.
Hydro Chairman R, B.
Taylor says "information in
the centre will be of special.'
importance teethe student and
academic community, as well
as to those individuals and
organizations with special
interests or concerns about
the various aspects of elec-
trical energy supply."
A comfortable study area is
provided, and a coin-operated
copying machine is available
to allow visitors to obtain
copies of material at a Imodest charge.
Staff is available to assist
•
visitors.
"We recognize the 'need to
provide information to the
public and every effort is
being made to do so promptly
and efficiently,'.' Mr. Taylor
says.
The telephone number of
the Reference Centre is (416)
You
won't
need
the
istletoel
Evans followed up Mr.
Vivians • waste handling
analyses pointing out that
none of the material used on
or near the reactors, is
aiiowed to come into `conact,
with environment.
All the equipment and
dis.posa•ble mate-nlal is
transferred to a site a,,t BNPD,
where'llwhere'llt is buried in special
containers. Hydro just
recently installed a special
incinerator at BNPD to burn
the material and collect all
the ash which will be
radioactive. The ash will then
be burned in the concrete
containers. The process
reduces the volume of waste
20 .to one. For every 20 barrels
of Waste disposable, other'
than fuel, Hydro will have to
bury one barrel of ash.
Mr..' Evans' department
constantly monitors the
disposal site and even checks
the rainwater that falls on the
containers and runs off the
site. He said he had equip-
ment 'at
quipment'at the site that would
collect any water that
possibly • became''. con-
taminated and hold it for
proper analysis and disposal.
Mr. Vivian and Mr. Evans
both stressed that nothing
that • had ever come into .
contact with radioactive
material had ever left BNP,
unless it had been shipped
another reactor site. Th�
both claimed that if the publ
was concerned about nucle
waste, they should come up
BNPD and see and decide f
themselves if it was safe:
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