By Lindsay Potter

In January, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission amended the operating license for the Canada Nuclear Laboratories’ (CNL) Chalk River site authorizing construction of a “near surface disposal facility” to hold one million cubic meters of radioactive waste one kilometer from the Ottawa River, drinking water source for more than ten million people. The proposed NSDF is seven stories high and larger than 70 NHL hockey rinks.

The “low-level radioactive waste” destined for burial includes contaminated building materials, soil, equipment, tools, etc. The site, near Deep River, Ontario, upriver from Ottawa and Montreal, is unceded Anishinabeg Algonquin Nation territory. The Ottawa River has been a sacred and vital waterway for First Nations for thousands of years.

The NSDF is described as an “earthen mound” containing twelve disposal “cells,” each to be lined and covered. The proposal also includes systems for collecting leachate, detecting leaks, monitoring, as well as other infrastructure for treating wastewater and cleaning trucks, workstations, and personnel.

Once construction is finished, the commission must grant CNL an additional license before it begins burying radioactive waste in the facility. The NSDF is projected to operate for 50 years, followed by a 30-year “closure phase” and a 300-year “post-closure phase,” wrapping up in 2400.

The commission says the project “is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects,” but there is already a long list of radioactive contamination at the site, affecting the groundwater, tributaries — including Perch Lake and Perch Creek — and wetlands that feed into the Ottawa River. The licensing process has been riddled with complexities.

Opposition by First Nations, Environmentalists, and Other Local Leaders

Of the eleven Algonquin groups in the area, ten expressed strong opposition to the NSDF, citing concerns for the safety of the waters of Kichi Zibi (the Algonquin name for the Ottawa River), health risks to people and wildlife, violation of treaty obligations and sacred sites, lack of prior and informed consent, and industry influence over the commission.

Dozens of mayors with the Montreal Metropolitan Community as well as 140 other municipalities in Ontario and Quebec oppose the project. Maja Vodanovic, mayor of the Lachine borough in Montreal, told CBC News, “Nuclear energy is not clean energy … Yes, it doesn’t produce the [same] greenhouse gas effects like oil, but it creates very dangerous waste.” The Canadian Museum of Nature also denounced the NSDF over concerns it could harm two endangered species living in the watershed.

Though the commission maintains it consulted Indigenous groups in accordance with requirements under Canadian and international law, Algonquin leaders are pursuing further legal action, citing treaty violations. Lance Haymond, chief of Kebaowek First Nation, told CBC, “We are very fearful that in 10, 15, 20 years, this project will continue to pose a risk … to all Canadians who use and depend on the Ottawa River as their drinking water source.”

Chief Dylan Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg First Nation told CBC, “They always knew they wanted to do this and they were going to do it with or without us.” Justin Roy of Kebaowek First Nation said, “When building a camp and you need potable drinking water and you build a well, you don’t go and build your outhouse beside that well.”

Industry Inside Job

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, charged with determining the NSDF’s safety and granting its operating license, claims it “is an independent administrative tribunal set up at arm’s length from government, without ties to the nuclear industry.” But five of the Commission’s six members have unabashed ties to the nuclear industry.

— CBC News Jan. 11, 2024, Oct. 24, 2023; Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

Look for Part Two of this story in the upcoming Nukewatch Fall Quarterly. Learn about the fraudulent multi-nationals set to run the project, the radioactive legacy left by decades of nuclear work at Chalk River, its links to the Manhattan Project, and the next steps forward for opposition groups.