50 municipalities, representing over 2 million Québec residents, opposed to radioactive steam generator shipment on St. Lawrence River

Beyond Nuclear ally Michel Fugère in Québec reports that Gaetan Ruest, Mayor of Amqui and head of the 300 municipalities  endorsing the "Municipal Regroupement in Québec," yesterday made a supplemental submission (in French) to the CNSC. The updated number of municipalities endorsing resolutions ("The Fate of Nuclear Power in Québec: A Choice for Society!" and "Resolution to ban the transport of radioactive steam generators via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence," both also in French) against the Bruce Power radioactive steam generator shipment, as of November 20th, 2010, is 50 municipalities. Additionally, 5 MRC have endorsed the resolution. Altogether, these municipalities represent 455,000 people. Adding Montréal, which has its own resolution against the Bruce proposal, then over 2 million people in Québec, out of a total population of about 7.5 million in Canada's second most populous province, are represented through their municipal leaders in opposition to the radioactive steam generator shipment.

Broad coalition submits supplementary comments to CNSC opposing radioactive steam generator shipment on the Great Lakes

A broad environmental and public interest coalition of groups from both the U.S. and Canada has again voiced its opposition to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) opposing Bruce Power's proposal to ship 16 radioactive steam generators on the Great Lakes and Atlantic Ocean to Sweden for so-called "recycling." A media release was issued by the coalition. Dr. Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and Canadian co-chair of the Great Lakes United Nuclear-Free/Green Energy Task Force submitted supplemental comments, again emphasizing that the proposed shipment's cargo is mostly plutonium, hardly "low-level" radioactive waste of "no risk" to the public and environment as alleged by CNSC. Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear, and a member of the GLU Nuclear-Free/Green Energy Task Force, also submitted supplementary comments (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3), emphasizing the nationwide and growing coalition calling for "hardened on-site storage" for radioactive wastes rather than risky transport for no good reason -- such as so-called "recycling" of radioactive materials into consumer products, which carries its own radiological risks for the population at large. Michael Keegan, chair of the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, called upon CNSC for a Full Panel Review, the top level environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Ziggy Kleinau, on behalf of the Bruce Peninsula Environment Group, called for an independent full panel review five years ago, and also submitted supplemental comments yesterday.

Radioactive cargo to travel the Great Lakes is mostly plutonium

Beyond Nuclear has joined with the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR, Quebec), Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination (Michigan), and Radioactive Waste Management Associates (Vermont) to issue a press release warning that Bruce [Nuclear] Power's and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's description of 16 steam generators targeted to transit the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River as "low-level radioactive waste" is misleading. The cargo is actually mostly ultra-hazardous plutonium, as explained in a concise one-page backgrounder prepared by Dr. Gordon Edwards, President of CCNR.

Help stop radioactive steam generator shipment on the Great Lakes!

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has requested additional public comments on the proposal by Bruce Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario (the largest nuclear power plant in the Western Hemisphere, and among the largest in the world, with 8 operable reactors, and 1 permanently shut down reactor) to ship 16 radioactive steam generators on a boat via the Great Lakes to Sweden for "recycling," potentially into consumer products. The shipment would traverse Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean. The shipment's radioactivity -- mostly ultra-hazardous plutonium -- presents an unacceptable risk to the Great Lakes, 20% of the planet's surface fresh water, and drinking water supply for 40 million people in the U.S., Canada, and a large number of Native American First Nations. Please help put the brakes on this risky shipment by emailing the CNSC at Interventions@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca, urging that a full panel review be undertaken on the proposal, the highest level environmental assessment option under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Likewise, email the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at phmsa.administrator@dot.gov, urging that the agency undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before permitting the shipment to enter U.S. territory on the Great Lakes and connecting rivers. PHMSA has been hauled before the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in recent months to be grilled on its involvement in disastrous oil pipeline spills into Michigan and Illinois rivers, deadly natural gas pipeline explosions, and its cozy ties to the very companies it is supposed to regulate. For more background information on the proposed shipment, see http://www.beyondnuclear.org/canada/.

7 Great Lakes States U.S. Senators object to radioactive waste shipment from Canada to Sweden

Seven U.S. Senators from Great Lakes States -- Russell Feingold (D-WI), Robert Casey Jr. (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Durbin (D-IL, Assistant Senate Majority Leader), and Charles Schumer (D-NY) -- have written to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Canadian federal government, expressing serious concerns about a proposed shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators from Bruce Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario to Sweden for "recycling" into consumer products. The shipment, on board a single ship, would violate International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) limits for the quantity of radioactivity aboard a single vessel. The shipment would travel via Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and connecting rivers (St. Clair, Detroit, the Welland canal, and St. Lawrence), and then across the Atlantic Ocean (see route map). Shockingly, Bruce Power's CEO, Duncan Hawthorne, has stated that there is no emergency plan for dealing with the sinking of the ship, stating there would be plenty of time to determine what to do once the ship sank. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, as well as the US DOT PHMSA, must approve permits for the shipment before it can commence. PHMSA has recently been the subject of severe criticism for oil pipeline leak and natural gas pipeline explosion disasters, as well as for the close ties between its leadership and companies involved in these disasters. Beyond Nuclear, along with a coalition of environmental groups, has called upon PHMSA to conduct a full environmental analysis on the proposed shipment, in order to fulfill its National Environmental Policy Act federal legal obligations, before permitting the shipment to enter U.S. territorial waters on the Great Lakes -- 20% of the world's surface fresh water, drinking supply for 40 million in the U.S., Canada, and numerous Native American/First Nations, and regional engine for one of the biggest economies on the planet.