U.S. Senate resolution introduced, opposing Canadian high-level radioactive waste dumping in Great Lakes Basin

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (Democrat-Michigan), joined by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), have introduced a Senate resolution, opposing Canadian high-level radioactive waste dumping in the Great Lakes Basin.

The Senate resolution mirrors a House resolution introduced last September, by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee.

A bipartisan, bicameral congressional caucus has been fighting Canadian government and nuclear industry schemes to dump radioactive waste on the shore of the Great Lakes, or in its Basin, since 2013.

Beyond Nuclear has fought these schemes since its founding in 2007. A binational grassroots environmental coalition, incuding such groups as NIRS and Northwatch, CCNS and Don't Waste Michigan, Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes and Greenpeace Canada, have fought such DUDs since 2001.

Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, a Canadian grassroots NGO, moved mountains on this issue. They gathered more than 232 resolutions from municipalities across the Great Lakes Basin, representing more than 23.4 million people. They also gathered more than 100,000 petition signatures opposed to the DUD.

DUD is a sarcastic acronym, short for Deep Underground Dump. It pokes fun at DGR, the Canadian government and nuclear industry's preferred acronym, short for Deep Geologic Repository.

A DUD for "low" and highly radioactive "interim" level nuclear wastes from 20 reactors across Ontario was stopped in Jan. 2020, after a two-decade battle. It was targeted at the Lake Huron shore, at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Kincardine, Ontario. The final nail in the DUD's coffin was a tribal referendum vote by the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation very nearby, and on whose land the DUD was targeted. The vote was 86% opposed, to 14% in favor, despite a vast sum of money offered to the First Nation as an inducement to say yes.

Even though that DUD was supposedly "only" for "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes, it was likely by the camel's nose under the tent. High-level radioactive wastes were likely to have followed.

In fact, a national high-level radioactive waste dump is now targeted at South Bruce, Ontario, a short distance inland from Kincardine. The U.S. congressional resolutions above apply to this DUD directly.

A second DUD is targeted near Ignace, Ontario. Altough just barely outside the Great Lakes Basin, northwest of Lake Superior, this DUD is also on Ojibwe First Nation land, upstream of many Ojibwe and other First Nations, including in the U.S., as at Lake of the Woods, MN. In addition, shipments of high-level radioactive waste from two-dozen atomic reactors in southern and eastern Canada would also impact the Great Lakes Basin, en route to this Ignace, Ontario DUD.

Update on February 24, 2022 by admin

See U.S. Sen. Stabenow's press release, here.

Update on February 24, 2022 by admin

Also see a late 2017 letter to Members of Congress from the Great Lakes region, spearheaded by Beyond Nuclear and signed by dozens of Great Lakes environmental groups. While the letter thanks the Members of Congress for their strong stand in opposition to Canadian radioactive waste dumping on the Great Lakes shores, and in the Great Lakes Basin, it also calls on them to oppose the generation, and very long-term storage, of radioactive wastes on those same shores, and in that same Basin, whether on the Canada side, or on the U.S. side.

And here is the press release put out in early 2018, about the letter.

U.S. Rep. Kildee Introduces Bipartisan Resolution Opposing Proposed Canadian Permanent Nuclear Storage Site Near Great Lakes

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (Democrat-Flint Township, Michigan)Resolution Asks Biden Administration to Work with Canada to Prevent New Permanent Storage of Nuclear Waste in the Great Lakes Basin

See U.S. Rep. Kildee's press release, here.

Beyond Nuclear has endorsed U.S. Rep. Kildee's resolution.

Update on September 18, 2021 by admin

Media coverage: Newsradio WSGW; WJRT ABC12 TV; NBC25 News; ExchangeMonitor (article is behind a paywall); Holland Sentinel.

Protecting our Earth -- Citizens Resistance at Fermi Two (CRAFT) Fukushima 10-year commemoration

Fermi 2, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission file photo. Fermi 2 is only 8 miles from Amherstburg, Ontario, across Lake Erie.Beyond Nuclear's radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, was honored and privileged to make a presentation at a very moving Fukushima commemoration on March 11th, focused on the largest twin design reactor in the world, Fermi Unit 2 (a General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactor, almost as large as Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 and 2 put together). Following is a March 16th follow-up message from the event organizer, Jesse Deer In Water of CRAFT, starting just beneath their beautiful logo.

Fermi 2 is located on the Lake Erie shore in southeastern Michigan (see photo, left). Fermi 2 is only 8 miles, across Lake Erie, from Amherstburg, Ontario, making it an international risk. CRAFT has been a grassroots watchdog on Fermi 2 for several decades.

Kevin's slides would not show during his presentation, unfortunately, due to a technical glitch. But here are the slides, posted online, along with brief notes for each slide (as they were meant to be explained verbally).

Dear Old Friends and New Family,

From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank all the folks who made it to our March 11th event for taking the time from your personal lives to share digital space with us during such a special time. We'd also like to invite the rest of you to share in the blessing by checking out the video of the event and/or the presenters. We set intentions to be serious and honor the earth while uplifting the stories of our speakers in a good way. For years CRAFT has been putting in the work, while honoring earth and people, and we intend on continuing that tradition. We also would like to extend an arm of gratitude to all who contributed their efforts and energy to putting the event together, as well as the speakers, and musicians. These are the folks that helped make this moment so special and moving.

We're excited to share this recording of the event and info on the speakers and musicians that stepped up with us. We'd love for y'all to keep up with the work. Below, we're also sharing some really easy and digestible info for you to remember about the Fermi 2 facility and share if you would like.

I don't know how much I can thank you all for being a part of our work and we welcome you to the whole.

Many Wados! (thanks)

Jesse Deer In Water 

CRAFT

1) No Extended Licenses for Aging Dangerous Reactors (Like Fermi 2)

the wear and tear on the reactor leads to it degrading and becoming more unstable, and waste is piling up in the waste pool while the pools themselves contunue to degrade as well. terms- "EMBRITTLEMENT" and "REACTOR FATIGUE"

2) Secure the Radioactive Waste at Sites Like Fermi 2 (they have these densely packed spent fuel ponds which are degrading)

last year CRAFT intervened in this issue last year, there was "neutron absorbing material"(which keeps the waste stable) degrading and losing its abilities, and dte was supposed to remove and replace it in a license condition but filed to leave it in place and cover it up, we were denied, not because we were wrong, but because we didn't have the factual law that dte broke, it sucked because they were literally writing the law in this case.

3) No New Nukes

as old nuke tech begins to fade and renewable tech begins to come more to light, the nuke industry scrambles to keep a horse in the race. the small modular reactors are their bet. many issues could be brought up, who wants a small modular nuclear reactor in the middle of their city? with the waste and releases? they don't support our native brothers and sisters who bear the burden at the source of the mining and radioactive waste storage sites. The tail will be the same as big nukes.

CANCER CONNECTION?

"Study: Elevated cancer deaths in Monroe may be result of nuclear plant," by Tyler Eagle, Monroe Evening News/USA TODAY NETWORK, March 12, 2021.

Watch a recording of the press conference here, posted at WTVG/ABC-13's website. (The first three minutes of the recording are microphone checks, so fast-forward to the 3 minute mark of the recording, where the press conference begins.) The press conference features: Michael Keegan of Don't Waste Michigan, a Monroe native; Joseph Mangano, executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, and author of the newly published cancer fatality rate study focused on Fermi 2; and Christie Brinkley, also a native of Monroe, and board member of the Radiation and Public Health Project.

Fermi Unit 2 in Monroe County, Michigan is just 8 miles across Lake Erie from Amherstburg, Ontario, making this an issue of international concern.

Here is the Radiation and Public Health Project's postings related to this newly published report focused on Fermi 2.

Update on March 10, 2021 by admin

See the press advisory put out by Don't Waste Michigan and the Radiation and Public Health Project.

Update on March 13, 2021 by admin

DTE (formerly Detroit Edison), owner/operator of Fermi 2, responded to Mangano's report, as reported by the Monroe Evening News.

LAKE HURON NUKE DUMP: Property Values, Other Economic Effects

Lake Huron's shorelineLast year, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) officially cancelled its plans to build a "Deep Geologic Repository" (DGR) for 20 provincial reactors' so-called "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive wastes, less than a mile from Lake Huron (photo, left), at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Kincardine. This came after a two-decade struggle, culminating with the Saugeen Ojibwe Nation's veto, an 86% to 14% tribal referendum opposed. However, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), dominated by OPG, is now targeting South Bruce, Ontario, just 25 miles inland, for a national Canadian high-level rad. waste dump. Northwatch and Protect Our Waterways invited Beyond Nuclear to present on radioactive stigma impacts on property values and other economic sectors, as local resistance mounts.

See the recording of the one and a half hour Zoom event, here.