DGR Action: Bill in Michigan Senate, Motion in Canadian Parliament, Ontario Election, Hearing Resumes

Thanks to Brennain Lloyd of Nukewatch for compiling the following updates on the DGR (Deep Geologic Repository) for "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes, targeted at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station for permanent burial!

Michigan State Senate's Natural Resources Committee Considers Nuclear Waste Burial Bill 948 - Deadline for Written Submissions June 4th!

The Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes Committee of the Michigan Senate has  Senate Bill 948 on its agenda for Thursday, June 5th. The Bill would "expressly prohibit storage or disposal for certain radioactive waste and establish advisory board on proposed Ontario repository". The Committee will also be considering three concurrent resolutions which urge the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and the Congress of the United States, the International Joint Commission on Boundary Waters and the Great Lakes Commission to all take various actions to oppose and/or further study the risks and impacs of OPG's proposed nuclear waste burial scheme. The Committee meets at 8:30 a.m. in room 210 of the Farnum Building in Lansing, 125 W. Allegan Street, Lansing, MI 48933. Committee Clerk CJ Galdes has indicated that all written submissions received by 5 pm on Wednesday, June 4th will be included in the Committee members' information packages. Email the clerk at cgaldes@senate.michigan.gov.

Ontario Election 2014

Questions to party leaders in the Ontario Election 2014 ask each of the four major political parties wither - if elected - they will direct OPG to suspend its efforts to bury nuclear waste beneath the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, and commission an independent examination of alternatives to nuclear waste burial and submit the findings to the Legislature. The Leaders' Survey is the product of a collaboration of public interest groups who have been active participants in the review of Ontario Power Generation’s proposed Deep Geologic Repository of Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Wastes. Responses and analysis will be posted on www.bruce-nuclear-waste-burial.ca on Friday, June 6th. The Inverhuron Committee also prepared election questions about OPG's proposed Deep Geological Repository.

Masse to Table Motion Concerning Nuclear Waste Storage Near Great Lakes

Ottawa, ON-- Brian Masse, MP Windsor West and Official Opposition Critic for the Great Lakes, announced last week that he will table a motion raising concerns over the safety of Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) proposed Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) near Lake Huron's eastern shore. The motion also addresses the validity of the Joint Review Panel and regulatory approval process for the project. Masse was joined by representatives from The Inverhuron Committee, Save Our Saugeen Shores (SOS), the Bluewater Coalition Against the DGR and Northwatch when he made the announcement on Parliament Hill on May 27th.

DGR Hearing Restarts September 9 in Kincardine

The Joint Review Panel appointed to evaluate Ontario Power Generation's proposal to bury nuclear waste beside Lake Huron announced on June 3rd that the hearing will restart on September 9th for an estimated two weeks. Anyone wishing to make a presentation must fill out a Hearing Participation Form  by June 23rd. Written submissions will be required by July 21st and any supporting materials - such as presentation slides - must be submitted by August 25th.

The Review Panel has identified a short list of subjects to be addressed during the reconvened hearing. They are: the methodology used to determine the significance of adverse environmental effects; updates to the geoscientific verification plan; expansion plans for the DGR project; relative risk analysis of alternative means of carrying out the project; implications of revisions to the reference waste inventory; and  the applicability of recent incidents at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) to the safety case for the DGR project. The revised hearing procedures provide additional detail on the subjects to be addressed.

International coalition defends its challenge against Davis-Besse Shield Building cracks, gaps, and rebar damage

Environmental coalition attorney Terry LodgeAn environmental coalition, represented by attorney Terry Lodge of Toledo (photo, left), has filed a defense of its contention alleging that FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company's (FENOC) Davis-Besse atomic reactor on the Lake Erie shore should be denied a 20-year license extension by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Most recently, Davis-Besse's concrete containment Shield Building has exhibited ever more severe cracking, steel reinforcement damage, as well as wall gap 80% of the way through its 2.5 foot thickness (an air space, or void, through 24 of 30 inches of the wall). The filing rebuts challenges against the contention by FENOC and NRC Staff.

As official intervenors in the NRC Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board (ASLB) proceeding, the coalition, comprised of Beyond Nuclear, Citizens Environment Coalition of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Ohio Green Party, has resisted Davis-Besse's 20-year license extension since the end of 2010. Davis-Besse's 40-year operating license expires on Earth Day (April 22), 2017. This is the coalition's sixth contention filed.

Opposition grows in Michigan against Ontario's proposed radioactive waste dump on other side of Lake Huron

A CTV London t.v. news report interviews Beverly Fernandez, a spokesperson for Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, about growing U.S. political -- and Great Lakes wide grassroots -- opposition to Ontario Power Generation's proposed Deep Geologic Repository for burial of so-called "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes less than a mile from the Lake Huron shore.

"Michigan's lawmakers step up fight against nuke dump"

As reported by John Flesher of the Associated Press, a group of Michigan State Senators has introduced a slate of bills intended to turn up the heat against a proposal by Ontario Power Generation to bury all of the province's so-called "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Kincardine, Ontario, less than a mile from the shoreline of Lake Huron.

The Times Herald has posted a video of the State Senators' news conference announcing their proposed legislation.

State Senator Pavlov (Republican, 25th District), Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes, has launched an online petition opposing the Great Lakes nuclear dump.

"OPG dealt setback on plan for new reactors"

As reported by the Globe and Mail of Ottawa, Ontario, a Canadian judge's ruling in favor of an environmental coalition's legal challenge against new reactors proposed at the Darlington nuclear power plant on the Lake Ontario shore east of Toronto has dealt a setback to provincially-owned Ontario Power Generation's nuclear expansion plans.

As reported:

'A federal judge has invalidated Ontario Power Generation’s licence to build new reactors at its Darlington site, saying the federal regulator did not sufficiently consider the potential for a severe accident or waste issues involving spent fuel.

Justice James Russell ordered the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to re-establish a review panel and address the “significant gaps” in its assessment of chemicals on site, the risk of an extreme accident, and the disposal of spent fuel.

Greenpeace Canada, which launched the judicial challenge, welcomed the decision, saying it will force federal regulators to consider controversial aspects of nuclear construction projects that have typically been left to later assessments. “It’s unprecedented for any nuclear project in Canada to face the kind of regulatory scrutiny the court is demanding,” Greenpeace campaigner Shawn-Patrick Stensil said Thursday.

Justice Russell noted the review panel had acknowledged that “no solution has yet been implemented for the long-term management of used [radioactive] fuel,” but that it failed to adequately assess the implications of that situation.'

And, as the article concludes:

'[E]nvironmental groups have also challenged the regulator’s environmental assessment of OPG’s plan to refurbish existing reactors at Darlington, a project that is the cornerstone of the Liberal government’s long-term energy plan.'

There are currently four reactors at Darlington. At one point, OPG proposed adding four more, but more recently scaled back its expansion plans to two additional reactors.

Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, served on Northwatch's expert witness team in spring 2011. He challenged OPG's risky plans for high-level radioactive waste on-site storage associated with its proposed new reactors at Darlington. The Canadian federal regulatory review panel hearings took place in late March 2011, amidst the surreal aftermath of the beginning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe.