Ottawa approves plan to bury nuclear waste
ONTARIO - Trucks and trains carrying millions of tonnes of dangerously radioactive waste nuclear fuel will be rolling across Ontario within 30 years, the federal government confirmed in giving the go-ahead to a multi-billion-dollar industry scheme for long-term waste storage.
The vehicles would carry waste fuel, now stored at the province's nuclear power reactors, to a holding site about 50 metres below ground at what Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn called a "willing community."
Officials of the industry-led Nuclear Waste Management Organization said that site could be in one of the four provinces with nuclear activity – Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, all with reactors, and Saskatchewan, with uranium mines. After roughly another three decades, the nuclear waste would be shifted to a permanent mausoleum as far as a kilometre underground at the same location.
"There's a strong likelihood in the years ahead that they'll be able to reuse the spent fuel to recover even more energy out of it," Lunn said.
The decision effectively rubber-stamps the scheme proposed in 2005. The nuclear industry would pay most of the research, construction and maintenance costs, estimated at $24 billion.
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SaskPower eyes buying $300M worth of electricity from Flying Dust First Nation
REGINA - An agreement signed between SaskPower and Flying Dust First Nation is an important step toward a plan that could see the utility buy $300 million worth of electricity from Flying Dust First Nation, according to Flying Dust's chief.
"There's still a lot of groundwork that needs to be done before we get building but you know we're a lot closer today with this signing," Jeremy Norman told reporters Friday.
Norman's community was assisted by the First Nations Power Authority (FNPA), a non-profit that helps First Nations get into the power sector.
The agreement signed Friday says SaskPower will explore the possibility of buying 20…