New group distributing information on nuclear waste to 30,000 households in northwestern Ontario

A new group hopes its message of concern over a proposed nuclear waste repository near Ignace, Ont., will sound the alarm bells from more people in northwestern Ontario.

We the Nuclear Free North, a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, said it wants to bring more attention to the proposed repository. The group said it will distribute 30,000 information cards to households from Upsala to the Manitoba border.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has been searching for a potential host site for the material, which comes from nuclear reactors in southern Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. The organization, founded in 2002, has been searching for a permanent site for the waste.

Fred Melanson, a member of the newly formed group, said he has concerns over the long-term stability of the site, noting that he knows of no man-made material that would maintain its original integrity for hundreds of thousands of years.

"The times I met with them there, they seemed always, more or less always tried to tell people they're just used fuel rods, instead of saying it's high level nuclear waste. And they'll say yeah, it can be dangerous for hundreds of thousandsor millions of years."

Melanson is a former councillor in Ear Falls, a community that looked at potentially hosting the geological repository, before it left the process.

He said there are many in his community that opposed the project, but were afraid to speak up.

"I can understand why a community might want to look into something like that, see how they can grow their community economically," Melanson said."But, unfortunately, I just don't think that's the way to go. I don't think that's the type of things we should be doing for our future generations of children."

One key concern of the group is transportation, as nuclear waste would have to be brought to the site west of Ignace, if it is built. The NWMO said it is still working on its transportation plans, butthat it would be "socially acceptable" and involve public dialogue.

The NWMO has previously said its target for a site selection is 2023, with the earliest potential opening in 2040.

Ignace, along the South Bruce in southern Ont., are the two sites remaining under the NWMO study.