Federal Impact Assessment of NWMO Project Is Essential

Federal Impact Assessment of NWMO Project Is Essential

As a resident of Ontario, who has lived in both Southern and Northwestern Ontario, I am writing with the deepest concern about the NWMO’s Initial Project Description. I urge the IAAC to undertake a serious and thorough federal impact assessment of the project, which absolutely must include transportation. I also request that it include opportunities for the public to participate in accessible and substantial ways throughout the process.

The idea that nuclear energy is “clean” disregards, among other things, the dangers of transporting nuclear waste, especially across such vast distances and highly sensitive environments. This project is hugely problematic, from the way the site was selected to its implications for all Ontarians and, indeed, all Canadians. It disregards alternatives, many substantially “cleaner,” and in my view is extremely shortsighted.

I also request that the IAAC consider the findings and recommendations of the Nuclear Waste Management and Disposal Concept Environmental Assessment Panel appointed by the Minister of the Environment in 1989 to review the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) concept of geological disposal of nuclear fuel waste in Canada. My mother, a member of the panel, has written an account of her experience in Lois M. Wilson, Nuclear Waste: Exploring the Ethical Dilemmas (2000).

Thank you for your careful and principled consideration of this all-important matter.

Jean Wilson