2024-Q4 Safe Transportation of Nuclear Waste
Whereas #1 the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has approved, in January 2024, a permit to construct a Near Surface nuclear waste disposal site on the property of Chalk River Laboratories; and
Whereas #2 NWMO is currently in discussion with two other rural western Ontario communities to process Canada’s High Level nuclear waste: the township of Ignace (Revell area) in northwestern Ontario and South Bruce in southwestern Ontario; and
Whereas #3 transporting Canada's nuclear waste over thousands of kilometres via the Trans- Canada highway to be treated and buried in the Deep Geological Repository (DGR) projects from the nine existing and any future nuclear plants puts at serious risk contamination of air, soil and water, fauna, flora, people and animals, and is contrary to NCWC's policy of Rolling Stewardship; and
Whereas #4 numerous scientists, ecological organizations and community groups, including NCWC, continue to oppose NWMO's authorization to process, transport and eventually bury the high-level nuclear waste accumulated over decades from Canada's numerous nuclear plants peppering the Canadian landscape; and
Whereas #5 as statistics demonstrate, trucks are increasingly involved in highway accidents due to numerous factors including fatigue, in spite of government laws limiting the maximum hours allowed at the wheel in a 24-hr period, and the additional risks associated with the icy, snowy conditions of Canadian highways for an average of six months annually; therefore be it
Resolved #1 that the National Council of Women of Canada adopt as policy that a transparent, consultative, open process be undertaken about the management of nuclear waste - from the location and security of the sites in relation to proximity to environmentally vulnerable watersheds, to communities, to fragile eco-systems, including consideration of the distances to be travelled, modes of transportation, and the types of nuclear waste levels from Low-Level, Intermediate-Level and of High-Level radioactive waste; and be it further
Resolved #2 that the National Council of Women of Canada urge the Government of Canada to ensure that a transparent, consultative, open process be undertaken about the transportation management of nuclear waste including consideration of the distances to be travelled, modes of transportation, and the types of nuclear waste levels from low-level, intermediate-level and high- level radioactive waste; and be it further
Resolved #4 that the National Council of Women of Canada urge its federates to raise concerns with their respective jurisdictional governments about risks of transporting high level nuclear waste across the country, including:
a) radioactive contamination on fellow travellers from following, crossing, or passing the transport trucks, on the truck drivers and other staff
b) contamination of air, soil and water in case of accidents or rollovers
c) contamination of flora, fauna, agriculture, domestic and farm animals, and hundreds and thousands of residents living along the truck routes.