Nuclear shipment angers metropolis

City of Montreal officials have together critics from across Quebec and Ontario in condemning a decision to permit a huge shipment of radioactive waste to travel through the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said Friday it will matter a licence to Ontario’s Bruce Power plant give it permission to ship 16 school bus size decommissioned steam maker through the Great Lakes and the Seaway to a recycling plant in Sweden.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission ruled that the 16 steam generator every weighing 100 tonnes and contain a deadly cocktail of nuclear waste products, including plutonium 239 can be transported safely by water. “The risk to people and the environment is negligible,” according to the commission. “If forever there was a time to go back to the drawing board, it is now,” Alan DeSousa, vice-chairman of Montreal’s executive committee, said Sunday in condemning the commission’s decision.

In October, DeSousa said, Montreal city council passed a declaration unanimously opposing the shipment because of the risk it presents not just to Montreal but to community all along the St. Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. “The safety of our residents cannot be dismiss as a negligible risk,” DeSousa said. Together, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence make up the world’s major source of fresh water, a precious resource on which 40 million people rely on for drinking water.