CGC1P Name: ______
Kincardine nuclear waste site gets federal seal of approval
A federal panel has given an overall seal of approval to the controversial nuclear waste disposal site proposed for a subterranean crypt below the Bruce nuclear station near Kincardine, Ont.
The panel’s favourable view of the project, proposed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), overcomes a major regulatory hurdle in the construction of the Deep Geologic Repository, or DGR in industry jargon, which would see nuclear waste buried hundreds of metres underground near the shore of Lake Huron.
“The Panel concludes that the project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects” given the measures contemplated to curb them, says the report by the Joint Review Panel.
OPG proposes to bury 200,000 cubic metres of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste from its nuclear power plants in a thick layer of limestone 680 metres below ground, about a kilometre from Lake Huron. The company says the rock is so solid and stable it will contain any possible leakage of harmful radioactivity.
However, environmentalists in Canada and the U.S. are likely to step up their opposition. Dozens of municipal councils around the Great Lakes are on record against it. Resolutions have also been presented in both houses of the U.S. Congress.
Beverly Fernandez, of “Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump”, said late Wednesday that based on a perusal of the report’s executive summary, she was “deeply disappointed” by its recommendations.
“The last place to bury and abandon radioactive nuclear waste is beside the largest body of fresh water in the world,” said Fernandez.
Answer these Questions...
1) Highlight the TOPIC of the article.
2) Highlight the ISSUE of the article.
3) Highlight 3 MAIN POINTS that describe the issue.
4) Do you think that the DGR should be built? Why or Why Not?