Dear Justin Trudeau, Carolyn Bennett, James Carr and Catherine McKenna:
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is proposing massive changes to the license for Chalk River Laboratories’ proposed radioactive megadump site, including the removal of 28 conditions of the license itself and several
Dear Justin Trudeau, Carolyn Bennett, James Carr and Catherine McKenna:
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is proposing massive changes to the license for Chalk River Laboratories’ proposed radioactive megadump site, including the removal of 28 conditions of the license itself and several
hundred “compliance verification criteria”. We are appalled at this radical move toward deregulation to benefit the multinational consortium, Canadian National Energy Alliance, whose Canadian partner, SNC Lavalin, is currently debarred from the World Bank for ten years and facing criminal charges in Canada for fraud, bribery and corruption.
We are very concerned about the consortium’s plan to place and eventually
abandon one million cubic meters of radioactive wastes in a giant mound less than one kilometer from the Ottawa River at Chalk River. The proposed giant mound flouts international guidance, would exceed public dose limits for radiation for 100,000+ years and would contaminate the Ottawa River.
The Safety Commission should not have decision-making authority for the
environmental assessment of this or any other nuclear project. We concur with the Expert Panel on environmental assessment reform, the final report of which reflects the widely held view that CNSC is a captured regulator with no independence from the industry it regulates. The House of Commons e-petition 1220 requesting suspension of the environmental assessment for the Chalk River megadump and replacement of CNSC as decision maker for nuclear projects has been signed by more than 2,000 Canadians.
We are also very concerned by the Auditor General report that Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, owner of the Chalk River Laboratories and other federal nuclear facilities, has experienced a “significant deficiency in board renewal”, has “not met its statutory obligation to hold public meetings” since 2009, and lacks “a formal, systematic process for monitoring and reporting on risks” among its facilities.
Legal experts have stated that CNSC’s proposed changes to the Chalk River site license would greatly reduce CNSC oversight and render important safety requirements unenforceable.
This radical move towards deregulation must be stopped immediately. CNSC’s proposal appears to confirm the widely held view that Canada’s nuclear regulator is more interested in supporting the nuclear industry than protecting health and the environment, its primary mandate under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act.
The Government of Canada urgently needs to overhaul nuclear governance in this country to ensure responsible handling of radioactive waste. Consultations with the public and First Nations must be an essential part of this process
Lynn Jones, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area
Johanna Echlin, Old Fort William (Quebec) Cottagers’ Association
