From Dr. Gordon Edwards: Concerted efforts by an unusually diverse and powerful movement of ordinary citizens has led to an unequivocal victory. Bruce Power's contract to ship 16 huge radioactively contaminated steam generators, each weighing 100 tonnes, from Owen Sound Ontario to the Studsvik facility in Sweden for "recycling", has been officially scrapped.
This outcome is entirely due to public opposition, since Bruce Power had received all the necessary authorizations -- including a CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) licence -- to proceed with the shipments.
The plan was fiercely opposed by many hundreds of environmental groups, by first nations communities, and by almost 300 municipalities.
The idea of shipping 1600 tonnes of nuclear waste through the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River (and the Welland Canal, pictured left) was the main rallying point for most people. A resolution opposing the shipping of any nuclear waste through these precious waterways was one of the main organizing tools used to alert and educate people.
But the idea of blending man-made nuclear waste materials into scrap metal for general commercial use, without even any labelling to indicate that the "recycled"metal contains nuclear waste, was another powerful motivator driving many to oppose the Bruce Power plan.
Increasingly, the nuclear industry is seeking permission from governments to be allowed to freely release radioactive waste materials into the environment and into commercial products. Citizens from all walks of life must be alert to this dangerous trend which will result in irreversible contamination of unregulated sites and manufactured goods. Read more.