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February 4th at 11:59 pm will mark the end of the initial 30-day public comment period on the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s Initial Project Description (IPD) for their Deep Geological Repository Project, as set by the federal Impact Assessment.
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada’s Project Page features links to the full 1,233-page IPD document, a 92-page IPD summary, public comments made to date, and a portal for submitting comments.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s plan to transport, process and bury all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste at a site between Ignace and Dryden in northwestern Ontario will include 50 years of transporting highly radioactive waste and 160 years of operation, and will leave in place 150,000 tonnes of the radioactive waste underground in the headwaters of the Wabigoon and Turtle-Rainy River watersheds.
The majority of comments to date, which now number more than 150, have highlighted the need for transportation to be included in a full assessment including a public hearing, and concerns about negative impacts of the project.
We the Nuclear Free North (WTNFN) will offer the second of two webinars on Wednesday, January 28, to assist members of the public who wish to make submissions during the current comment period. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) also presented webinars earlier in the comment period and regional information sessions last week in Ignace, Sioux Lookout and Dryden.
“Wednesday’s webinar will focus on preparing comments on NWMO’s project description” said Brennain Lloyd, Project Coordinator for Northwatch, one of the northern Ontario based organizations in the We the Nuclear Free North alliance.
“We’d like to amplify the IAAC’s recommendation that commenters identify those aspects of the NWMO’s project that are of particular concern, such as transportation or radioactive releases from the packaging plant or other topics of concern, and comment on what information the NWMO must provide for the project to be thoroughly assessed. That said, it’s also perfectly appropriate to comment on the NWMO’s proposed project as a whole.”
“It’s good to see many commenters pointing out that the Assessment would be incomplete without a comprehensive examination of how NWMO proposes to transport, transfer, and treat the high-level radioactive waste accumulated in southern Ontario and eastern Canada in the context of a full assessment with a public hearing,” said Wendy O’Connor, a volunteer with Nuclear Free Thunder Bay and We the Nuclear Free North.
“We are also seeing many compelling, heartfelt comments in defence of our environment.”
We the Nuclear Free North encourages groups and individuals to view the Initial Project Description or its summary and provide comments to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada by February 4.
The link to register for We the Nuclear Free North’s Jan. 28 webinar and to the Impact Assessment Agency’s project page and documents on the Impact Assessment Agency’s public registry are available on WTNFN’s webpage: www.wethenuclearfreenorth.ca/impacts/
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