Scammer
Banned
Bruce Power has applied to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for permission to ship 16 radiation-contaminated steam generators from its facility in Tiverton, Ont., to Sweden for reprocessing.
A Canadian electric power company is postponing a shipment of 16 old generators with radioactive contents across three of the Great Lakes but remains committed to the plan, despite claims by environmentalists that it's too risky, a spokesman said Thursday.
Bruce Power Inc. is awaiting a licence from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to send the generators, each the size of a school bus, to a recycling plant in Sweden aboard a 118-metre cargo vessel. It would depart from a port in Owen Sound, Ont., on Lake Huron, and traverse Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, plus the St. Lawrence River, before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.
The company hoped the shipment would take place this fall. But the onset of winter weather means it's no longer safe, so it will be put off until spring, spokesman John Peevers said.
"The window for this year has closed," he said.
Critics hope to buy time
Critics said they hoped the delay would buy time for them to build their case against the shipment, which also would need permission from the U.S. Department of Transportation because the vessel would at times pass through U.S. territory. They are pushing the Canadian commission to conduct a more comprehensive review than has been undertaken thus far.
"We're confident … that the merits of the project will not stand and that it will be permanently stopped," said Michael Keegan, spokesman for the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes.
Groups representing environmentalists, Great Lakes cities and American Indian tribes in both Canada and the U.S. are fighting the plan, saying an accident could contaminate the lakes with radiation. Keegan said even if that doesn't happen, the shipment could set a precedent that eventually would turn the lakes into a highway for nuclear cargo.
Each of the 90-tonne generators has about 4,200 metal tubes that contained hot water, which created steam that powered electricity-producing turbines. Thirty-two of the boilers were taken out of service in the 1990s.
Bruce Power last year awarded a $37-million contract to Studsvik, a Swedish company, to melt down the generators and sell the metal as scrap. About 90 per cent of the material can be recycled; the rest will be too radioactive and will be returned for permanent storage.
The company plans two shipments of 16 generators each.
Bruce Power said each generator has less than 30 grams of radioactive material and would be welded shut to prevent leaks.
"We really do believe that this is the right thing to do," Peevers said. "We're reducing our environmental footprint; we believe it's a safe project. We'll continue to plan and hopefully deliver it."
Staff at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has recommended approval. After a hearing in late September, the panel took additional public comments until Nov. 22.
If the commission follows its usual timetable, it should reach a decision by the end of this month but might take longer, spokesman Aurele Gervais said.
