Decision on storing Ontario nuclear waste delayed again for more study

TORONTO – The federal government has again delayed a decision on Ontario Power Generation’s plan to bury nuclear waste at the Bruce Nuclear site near Lake Huron.

OPG says the federal government has said it won’t make a decision as planned on March 1 and says Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has instead has requested three studies.

The utility says Ottawa wants an updated analysis of potential combined environmental effects of the site, an updated list of OPG’s commitments to mitigate any identified effects, and a study into the environmental effects of alternate sites.

READ MORE: More than 90k sign petition sent to federal government against Ontario nuclear waste plan

OPG says it maintains that a deep geologic repository is the right answer for Ontario’s low and intermediate level waste, and that the Kincardine, Ont., site is the right location.

The proposed facility would store about 200-thousand cubic metres of low and intermediate level waste from more than 40 years operating Ontario’s nuclear stations.

OPG says it would permanently isolate and contain the waste 680 metres underground, ensuring protection of the water and the environment.

Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump — a group opposed to the project — last month sent a 92-thousand-signature petition outlining its concerns to McKenna.

And a group spokeswoman said more than 180 resolutions have been passed on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border condemning the plan.

A Canadian environmental assessment released last May concluded the OPG plan was the best way to deal with the waste, and found little risk to the lake.