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An announcement on Friday that the federal government has taken the next step to short-circuit the review of a contentious nuclear waste project is receiving pushback from critics and Indigenous leaders who are demanding a comprehensive and independent review before any federal approvals can be granted.
Notice was posted in the Canada Gazette that the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO’s) Deep Geological Repository (DGR) project for all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste is proposed for designation as a “Project of National Interest” under the Building Canada Act. This designation would guarantee project approval and would circumvent the Impact Assessment process. The Notice also proposes a reduced scope of the project, eliminating long-distance transportation and long-term safety from whatever evaluation the federal government might employ in developing their conditions for the approval.
Opposition to the project’s designation as a Project of National Interest centres around the recognition that if so designated, the project will not receive a comprehensive impact assessment and key areas of concern – namely transportation and long-term safety – will escape scrutiny.
“If the NWMO’s project was sound and they could make the safety case for their nuclear waste transportation and burial project there would be no hesitation on the part of the nuclear industry or the federal government to have it subject to a comprehensive and independent assessment”, commented Brennain Lloyd, project coordinator with Northwatch.
“This move to shield the deep geological repository scheme from scrutiny says it all – the NWMO’s concept can’t stand up to technical or public review. But limiting its review will not limit its impact.”
The proposal to designate the NWMO’s DGR as a project of national interest has been put forward by the federal government despite strong opposition expressed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, and evidenced by public protests, lawn signs, letters to newspapers and public agencies, and most especially by the more than 1,000 comments submitted by Canadians during the planning phase of the federal impact assessment’s, expressing either opposition to the project or significant concerns about how it would be carried out. The first phase of the federal review began in January and on July 3 the federal government announced the commencement of the impact assessment process.
“Canadians fought hard to ensure that the project would receive a full impact assessment including a comprehensive examination of long-distance waste transportation,” said Wendy O’Connor, volunteer with Nuclear Free Thunder Bay.
“The Impact Assessment Agency agreed. That the federal government could now ignore Canadians’ wishes and sidestep the full assessment process Canadians were promised is shocking, unjust and unwise.”
“Considering the project’s novelty, scale, duration and potential for long-lived and irreversible effects from transporting and burying such an unprecedented volume of highly radioactive nuclear waste, it would be absolutely reckless for the government to fast track the approval of this project. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada is the sole body with the mandate and expertise to evaluate the environmental, health, social, economic, cumulative, and rights-related impacts of major federal industrial projects. It must remain the lead authority for nuclear-related impact assessments,” said Mary Veltri of Environment North.
In May the federal government proposed in its ‘Getting Major Projects Built in Canada’ discussion paper that nuclear projects be vetted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) rather than the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Canadians’ response was noted their resulting report, “What We Heard”. The report specifically mentions nuclear projects as one where opponents argued that having the assessment carried out by the sector regulator alone would weaken the scrutiny of cumulative effects, species at risk, and Indigenous rights, and diminish public participation.
The Notice in the Canada Gazette invites the public to comment on the proposal that NWMO’s DGR project be designated as a Project of National Interest. We the Nuclear Free North strongly urges Canadians to do so, and will be providing analysis and more information to support public engagement.
Comments may be emailed to [email protected], with a deadline of October 26.
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