The planned “near surface disposal facility” at the Chalk River nuclear research site, about 200 kilometres west of Ottawa, has opponents calling on councillors to state the city’s objection……..

“I look back on my years of taking my kids to the river to swim and how important the river is in Ottawa as part of our lifestyle, and it’s the source of all of our drinking water,” said Eva Schacherl, a volunteer with the Ottawa chapter of the Council of Canadians.

“I want to know that we really look after the nuclear waste we’ve created, that we do it as safely as possible and away from our watershed.”

The project by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) would create an engineered disposal mound with room for one million cubic metres of solid “low-level” waste regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The waste would include contaminated soil, building fragments from demolition activity and personal protective equipment. The disposal facility would be in operation for 50 years and the mound would have a life of 550 years under the proposed design. The project includes a wastewater collection and treatment system……

Schacherl said it’s time for the City of Ottawa, as the closest major city downstream, to weigh in on the project and comment on possible impacts to the drinking water.

The City of Gatineau signalled its opposition to the project in 2017, followed by mayors of Montreal-area municipalities in 2018.

Ottawa council’s environment committee received an update last week on the city’s drinking water protection program and Coun. Catherine McKenney asked staff about the potential impacts of the CNL’s proposed disposal facility.

Tessa Di Iorio, a city risk management official and inspector, told the committee that the Chalk River nuclear laboratories are identified as a potential risk in the Mississippi Valley source protection plan and staff are keeping an eye on the disposal project.

The city does radiological monitoring of the water at the intake locations for the Britannia and Lemieux Island purification plants.

Di Iorio said the city provided some comments on the project “and we’re monitoring the situation.”

Ole Hendrickson, who has a doctorate in ecology and is a member of the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, said the chances of major accident causing a radioactive release is small, but the consequences are huge.

A site close to the Ottawa River just isn’t a good location for a radioactive waste facility, he said.

“We don’t want to turn the Ottawa River into a sewer for nuclear waste for the federal government,” Hendrickson said.  https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/nuclear-waste-dump-opponents-press-city-of-ottawa-to-reject-the-upstream-project-at-chalk-river

jwilling@postmedia.com