nuclear-news

“This nuclear waste repository will be surrounded by Lake Huron on three sides and be located just upstream from the main drinking water intake for southeast Michigan,” he says in the two-minute video. “If this radioactive material leaks, the drinking water for 40 million people could be contaminated.”

The town hall, titled “Save the Great Lakes from Nuclear Waste,” will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. at Wayne State University’s Keith Center Lecture Hall.

For several years, Ontario Power Generation has been moving ahead with designs for an underground nuclear waste repository near Kincardine. During that time, the proposal has drawn sporadic interest and opposition in the United States — often in the form of isolated press releases by elected officials.

Ontario Power Generation officials have long argued their repository would be situated amid low-permeability limestone and shale formations that will keep the material there safe for “thousands” of years. U.S. and Canadian critics are concerned that, despite the company’s stated intentions, the repository could one day be used to house high-level nuclear waste.

In mid-September, Ontario’s federal review panel will begin a lengthy public hearing on the storage project. Then it will move north for additional hearings in Port Elgin in October.

“Some time in February would be the (earliest) that the panel would release its conclusions,” said Ted Grtuzner, an Ontario Power Generation spokesman. From there, the proposal would go on to the province’s Ministry of the Environment for a final review. jlynch@detroitnews.com (313) 222-2034