The government in Canada has effectively delayed granting approval for a deep well radioactive waste repository at the Bruce nuclear power plant until after a federal election that takes place in October.
The decision on the low-level to medium-level waste repository was expected in early September. But Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq allowed for a 90-day public comment period that resets the government’s timetable. A decision is now expected in early December.
Aglukkaq said the government was committed to a transparent process for making the decision. But others see the public comment period as a ploy that allows for the election to occur before a potentially unpopular decision is made.
Plans call for lowering about 200,000 cubic meters of waste into a chamber 2,230 feet below ground. Geologists who endorsed the plan say the rock at that level has not moved in a million years, according to the Globe and Mail.
The Ontario Power Generation project is expected to cost $1 billion.
However, opposition to the plan has been building and a delay gives opponents more time to circulate petitions and publicize their position. The main point of criticism is the site’s proximity to Lake Huron – less than a kilometer (3,280 feet) away. The Great Lakes system, meanwhile, is the source of drinking water for 30 million people in the United States and Canada.
Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, co-chair of the Senate's Great Lakes Task Force, has called the plan a "serious threat" to the Great Lakes. He has called for a bi-national review of the repository. OPG, meanwhile, is continuing its discussions with the Saugeen Ojibway First Nation. The company has said it would not build the repository without the approval of the tribal nation.