Battle lines drawn on nuclear waste storage

Shawn Bell - Wawatay News
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As the list of northern Ontario communities interested in having nuclear waste buried in their section of the Canadian shield grows longer, First Nations in the North are readying for a fight.

The latest volley was launched on January 6, when Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) repeated its stance of having no nuclear waste buried anywhere in northern Ontario.

“We have a mandate from the Creator to protect our lands and waters and have been doing so for thousands of years,” said NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy. “Nuclear waste is a poison that will damage our homelands.”

Beardy told Wawatay News that NAN’s stance is a reaction to the fact that First Nations are being ignored when it comes to selecting a site for the planned nuclear waste storage facility.

NAN’s statement came after the Anishinabek Nation announced its opposition to nuclear waste being buried in northern Ontario.

Combined, the two organizations represent 88 First Nations in Ontario.

Although a decision on where to bury nuclear waste may be still years away, communities across northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have started exploring the possibility of accepting the spent fuel rods – and the jobs that follow the waste.

The list of northern Ontario communities expressing interest in hosting the nuclear waste storage facility includes Wawa, Ear Falls, Elliot Lake, Blind River, Ignace, Nipigon, Schrieber and Hornepayne. Saugeen Shores in southern Ontario and three Saskatchewan communities have also expressed interest.

Clearly there is an economic benefit to being the host site. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) – the body tasked with finding a host site – has stated that there will be hundreds of skilled jobs at the site while the estimated $24 billion facility is constructed.

The organization also stated that spending over the first 30 years of the facility’s lifespan could total $200 million per year, mostly in the host community. Plus the host community has been promised a “center of expertise” on nuclear power, bringing more high-paying technical jobs to the selected region.

Beardy knows that the economic development potential is attractive for the people of northern Ontario, where the struggling forestry industry has left many communities without their main lifeline. But he insists that the long-term risks outweigh the short-term gains, and that if communities look beyond the possibility of jobs and money they will realize the drawbacks of storing radioactive material for thousands of years.

“When First Nations people talk about existence, we always speak of the next seven generations,” Beardy said. “The communities are looking at the benefit of immediate jobs, but in the long term it is unknown what is going to happen to the environment.”

Engagement with First Nations

NWMO spokesperson Mike Krizanc told Wawatay that while engagement with First Nations has been ongoing since 2002 when the NWMO was formed, active discussions on a specific site only begins after a potential host community expresses its interest.

The first step from the NWMO is to send a letter to neighbouring First Nations, and the treaty organization representing them, informing them that a nearby community has expressed interest in hosting the nuclear waste facility. Krizanc said that more in-depth engagement with the First Nation would begin as community visits are held and the process moves into feasibility studies for a specific site.

In the meantime he said potential host communities are encouraged to contact neighbouring First Nations to inform them of the community’s intention.

Krizanc also noted that actual consultation with First Nations on a nuclear waste storage facility is the responsibility of the Crown. Although that responsibility may be delegated to NWMO, the consultation process will not start until a site is selected, something that may take up to a decade to complete.

“We are hopeful that over the next while we can learn about and address the concerns of First Nations,” Krizanc said. “We believe it is important to have First Nation communities fully informed and, in particular, those who are neighbours to the potential site.”

Michipicoten: ‘Not in our backyard’

Michipicoten First Nation is one of the “neighbouring” First Nations getting so much attention. The First Nation is located just down the road from Wawa – one of the potential host communities – sharing the same water source as the municipality that wants to see a nuclear storage facility.

Michipicoten Chief Joe Buckell has seen this debate before. First in the 1980s and then in the 1990s, his traditional lands have been targeted as potential nuclear waste storage sites.
For Buckell, the decision is easy. His community has always opposed nuclear waste in the region, and nothing has changed.

“We get a bad feeling about this thing,” Buckell said. “We don’t know what the long-term effects for our land and community are.”

Buckell said that officials from Wawa sent letters and phone messages to his band office before signing the list of potential host communities. Michipicoten did not respond.
“We don’t even want to give them the idea we’re entertaining it,” Buckell said. “As far as supporting it, no way. They’re not going to get any traction from First Nations.”

Buckell’s stance is very similar to that of Beardy’s. Both leaders insist that First Nations are unified against having any form of nuclear waste depository in northern Ontario. And as both made clear, their position has not changed for decades, despite the desire from leaders across northern Ontario municipalities to bring nuclear waste north.