nuclear-news

The Canadian Press, AUGUST 21, 2018 OTTAWA — Environmental groups say Canada should stop producing nuclear energy until the federal government replaces its “pathetic” waste disposal policy with something more meaningful and scientific.

The groups, including the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and the Canadian Environmental Law Association, plan to protest a meeting Wednesday where officials will discuss plans to decommission nuclear labs and reactors in Chalk River, Ont., and Pinawa, Man.

The groups are particularly concerned about the proposal to build a surface-level disposal site at Chalk River to bury one million cubic metres of waste just a kilometre from the Ottawa River, and to encase nuclear reactors at the sites in concrete.

They say neither proposal meets international guidelines for the handling of nuclear waste.

Coalition president Gordon Edwards says Canada’s only written national policy on radioactive waste is so short it would take less than four tweets to post it on Twitter.

The groups want Ottawa to stop producing nuclear waste and work on developing a disposal policy in consultation with the public.