Thinking carefully before doing something matters
With the rapid development of economy, a lot fuel is used to keep the industry working, but the transportation of fuel becomes an important issue, especially when we are transportating these gas which may cause great influence to environment when it leaks. So when we are designing the pipeline for gas, we should choose the right place and reasonable routine, in order not to affect people’s safety and daily life.
A global outcry is growing over a proposal to ship 16 aging radioactive steam generators across Ontario’s Great Lakes, a plan critics say risks turning the iconic waterways into a permanent corridor for the transportation of nuclear waste.
Nearly 2,400 people and 50 organizations, including aboriginal groups from across Canada, the United States and Europe have signed an online petition urging the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to block shipments of the 100-tonne decommissioned generators from the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station near Kincardine, Ont., to Studsvik in Sweden for recycling.
The critics say they are opposed “to any shipment through the Great Lakes of radioactive waste or radioactively contaminated equipment from the decommissioning, refurbishment, or routine operation of nuclear reactors.”
The protest has prompted Bruce Power to hold three open houses this week in an effort to address concerns raised by citizens in the affected communities.
So far, the attendance has been weak, with only about 20 people attending the first meeting in Owen Sound, Ont., the city where the school-bus-sized generators will be moved along local roadways and loaded at the harbour.
Two other meetings — in Southampton, Ont., and at Bruce Power headquarters in Tiverton, Ont. — are planned for later this week.
“The controversy is very much overstated,” said Ross Lamont, a spokesman for Bruce Power. “The fact that not a lot of people showed up for the first meeting is some indication that people are getting enough information.”
He attributed the continuing concern to a small group of vocal residents, many in high-profile groups like the Sierra Group, Greenpeace Canada and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.
The generators are part of the Bruce A nuclear reactor, which is currently undergoing a $5.25-billion refurbishment. The same reactor, located on the banks of Lake Huron, was blamed for an accidental radioactive release last November.
Lamont said the generators need to be shipped to Studsvik because it is the only location that can recycle 90 per cent of the metals.
Bruce Power, the country’s first private nuclear-power generator, applied for approval to ship the 1,760 tonnes of radiation-laced steel in April but is waiting for a decision from the commission, which is still considering the technical aspects of the application.
If approved, the generators are scheduled to leave during a three-week period in September.
This would be the first time a shipment of this type has travelled on the Great Lakes. The generators would be shipped through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and then across the Atlantic Ocean.
The regulatory body says that any “low-level nuclear waste” will be enclosed in each steam generator and that the only difference between this shipment and others that occur on Canadian waters involving environmentally hazardous materials like highly corrosive liquids and acid-filled batters, is its size.
Lamont said a contingency plan is in place that will safeguard the generators, beginning with the shipment on the road — which will have a police escort — to ensuring that the cargo is carefully placed on a special ship equipped to move heavy goods.
“Our first step of the emergency plan is to plan to not have an emergency,” he said. “The opportunity for anything to go wrong with any of these generators is extremely low. Even if we dropped them in the water, we just have to pick it up. Radiation is not going to be leaked out.”
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, an outspoken opponent of the planned shipment, said the issue is that communities such as his were unaware of the application even though it has the potential to affect residents.
“We’re realistic, we understand that there is a need to ship some materials,” he said. “It’s just the way this thing has unfolded. This is a precedent-setting shipment which will lead to more nuclear waste being shipped across the Great Lakes. That’s the greatest issue.”
Bradley said this signifies another threat to the lakes, which are already dealing with pollution and the evasive Asian Carp species.
“We don’t want to be alarmist, but we need better contingency plans,” he said. “Forty million Canadians and Americans drink from the Great Lakes. What will happen if there is an accident?”
Well, this proposal is still in discussion, sooner or later, the government will come out with a law to solve this problem, although I am not a threatenist, planning to ship radioactive generator on Great Lakes is not an easy job, we should think it carefully.