Kincardine Council backs nuclear disposal

KINCARDINE, ONTARIO - Town council gave its support to the establishment of an underground nuclear waste storage facility at the Bruce nuclear plant.

Council approved a bylaw that will launch a full environmental assessment of the project. Following that, the facility will need to be licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The approval comes on the heels of a survey released at the meeting that showed 60 per cent of residents support the project. The level of support hits 73 per cent when those who are neutral or refused to answer were excluded from the total.

"I am very pleased with the results," Kincardine Mayor Glenn Sutton said following the vote.

Sutton said Kincardine is the first town he knows of that has volunteered to be a host for a disposal facility.

Councillors were also pleased with the result of the survey.

"There was a clear mandate from the public," said Councillor Maureen Couture.

"I'm extremely happy the percentage was that large," said Councillor Guy Anderson.

Opponents of the proposed waste site either disputed the credibility of the poll by the firm The Strategic Counsel, or said the site would damage property values.

Jennifer Heisz said the poll failed to reach enough residents. "I don't think the results of the poll changed anything," she said. Michael Sullivan of The Strategic Counsel said the survey reached more than 70 per cent of the estimated 8,319 adult residents of Kincardine.

Ontario Power Generation Inc. proposes sinking shafts 660 metres deep into a limestone formation below the Bruce nuclear generating station.

In the limestone would be carved 20 vaults capable of storing nuclear waste produced by Ontario's nuclear reactors for the next 30 years.

The waste would not include spent fuel, the most potent form of radioactive material. Instead, it would be low- and intermediate-level waste. Low-level waste includes clothing and gloves worn by visitors to the reactor areas of nuclear plants.

Intermediate waste is sufficiently potent to require shielding when it's being handled. It includes worn metal parts from the reactor core, which become radioactive over time, and filters used to decontaminate air or water.

Low- and intermediate-level waste is currently stored in buildings and containers on the surface at the Bruce nuclear site, which is owned by OPG although the generating station is leased to Bruce Power.

OPG came up with the proposal after talks with town officials, and drew up a formal agreement with the town last fall.

Under the agreement, OPG will pay Kincardine and four area municipalities $35.7 million over 30 years.

Construction is unlikely to begin before 2013, with the site in operation by 2017.

The decision will attract environmental protestors and give the town a bad reputation, said Russ Hawkins of Southampton, north of Kincardine.

"People are going to be lying across the road. You're going to see it on TV everywhere," he said.