Response to “Let’s Have the Whole Story on N-Waste Disposal”

Article by Kim Casey, The Chronicle-Journal
November 22, 2014

November 24, 2014

Editor
The Chronicle-Journal
75 S. Cumberland Street
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7B 1A3

Dear Editor,

In her letter (“Let’s have the whole story on N-waste disposal” – Nov. 22), Kim Casey predicted that a transportation accident involving nuclear materials from any future nuclear waste centre in Northwestern Ontario would be “inevitable.”

The facts suggest otherwise. The Canadian nuclear industry has been transporting nuclear materials, including waste, for half a century without incident.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which independently regulates nuclear safety, states that there has never been a transport accident in Canada involving nuclear substances that caused “an impact on the health and safety of people or the environment.”

Ontario Power Generation, which owns all three nuclear generating stations in the province, makes about 800 shipments of radioactive materials each year.  After thousands of shipments and millions of kilometers, not a single gram of radioactive material has ever been released into the environment.

Here’s the bottom line: Our industry places public safety above all other concerns.

Yours sincerely,

John Barrett, PhD
President
Canadian Nuclear Association