Bruce Power’s plan to transport school-bus sized radioactive steam generators overland from its nuclear plant near Kincardine to Owen Sound, and then by ship through the Great Lakes to Sweden for recycling is a very troubling one.

Forty-million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water. But starting this fall, Bruce Power wants to transport 32 of these 100-tonne vessels, each containing 5,000 radioactively-contaminated tubes, through Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

The plan to ship radioactive steam generators through our waterways comes as a big, nasty surprise. After all, Bruce Power promised in its 2005 Environmental Impact Statement they would not even transport the steam generators on public roads — which they will have to do to get them to Owen Sound.

Recycling the metal from the steam generators in Sweden will also lead to radioactive materials finding their way into scrap metal for unrestricted commercial use — something that is not allowed in North America.

Bruce Power says the risks of a shipping accident are minimal — but it doesn’t mention two similar-sized turbines were accidentally dropped into Saint John, N.B.’s harbour in 2008 (luckily, they were not radioactive).

They also don’t mention two vessels have gone aground so far this summer — one in the St. Lawrence Seaway and another in the Thousand Islands area — along the route to be taken by the ships carrying the generators.

More than 50 non-governmental organizations, along with Ontario mayors and two Michigan State Representatives, have publicly opposed Bruce Power’s plan.

But Dalton McGuinty’s government has been noticeably silent.

It shouldn’t be. The Ontario government has a responsibility to protect our drinking water. Moreover, the steam generators are owned by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) — a provincially-owned corporation.

McGuinty should stand up for Ontarians’ welfare by immediately telling OPG the government is opposed to the shipment plans.

Unfortunately, the Liberal government — and the Conservative opposition — have repeatedly refused to acknowledge the dangers of nuclear power, even when cabinet members, such as Sudbury’s Rick Bartolucci, declare publicly they don’t want nuclear waste in their communities.

The nuclear industry’s assurance that risks are low is not good enough. Neither is the assurance of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Time and again, the nuclear industry and its regulators have disputed or minimized the dangers of nuclear energy.

The nuclear industry has consistently denied that nuclear reactors negatively impact fish, yet we recently learned 1 million Lake Ontario fish and 62 million fish eggs and larvae die each year when they’re sucked into the water intake at the Pickering A nuclear plant alone.

The industry says nuclear plants pose no danger to workers, yet late last year, nearly 200 workers were contaminated with alpha radiation at Bruce Power’s nuclear plant because supervisors failed to measure alpha radiation levels in a reactor vault.

The fact the public only learned of Bruce Power’s unprecedented proposal to ship radioactive steam generators across the Great Lakes through media reports is worrisome and indicates a stunning lack of openness and independent oversight on nuclear matters in Canada.

As host of the majority of Canada’s nuclear plants, the Ontario government has a responsibility to stand up now to stop these nuclear shipments.

Ontarians should demand Premier McGuinty does just that.

— Horwath is leader of Ontario’s NDP

via Nuke plan to ship waste on our lakes | Columnists | Comment | Toronto Sun.