A Chat About All Things Nuclear
Nuclear energy and its waste is a hot button issue in the Thunder Bay region. Students around the Lakehead campus may have seen news stories about nuclear waste, noticed signs and bumper stickers, or even participated in protests. The origins of all these goings-on are the talks to put a deep geological repository in the Ignace Ontario area, the controversy being whether or not such a facility is safe, and what the long-term implications are. Personally, I had always considered myself a supporter of nuclear energy. Based on my causal understanding, it seemed to me that out of all the terrible methods humans have come up with to generate electricity, nuclear power was the better choice. But being the curious individual I am, I sought to learn more by interviewing someone who actually knows what they are speaking to.
Brennain Lloyd is a Project Coordinator for the environmentalist group Northwatch, a regional non-governmental organization that has been working on nuclear issues ever since their inception in 1988. Breannain generously agreed to sit down with me and have a conversation about everything happening with nuclear waste in the north, and the long-term implications for residents and students.
The first question readers may have is “What is a deep geological repository?”. A deep geological repository is essentially a massive underground storage facility located several hundred meters underground. The simplified idea is that we can store nuclear waste deep underground to sidestep any of the risks that come with traditional storage. Sounds great one might say, the idea makes perfect sense when you first hear it.
With this childlike understanding, I asked Breannain “What are the dangers of a deep geological repository?”.
“One of the main problems is that they (NWMO) do not have a monitoring program for a deep geological facility”
Breannin further explained: “If there was a leak, the NWMO would not be able to trace a leak to a particular container or containment room”. Now one may say “Ouch, that seems bad” and this is a natural reaction. Having a monitoring program that would allow you to accurately trace a leak in one of your containers in such a massive facility seems like a very natural safety feature.
Instead of the deep geological repository concept, groups like Northwatch are instead calling for something called the Proximity principle.
“The proximity principle is a different approach, and it meets what we think is the first criteria for managing nuclear waste and storage”.
Lloyd provided more clarification stating: “The proximity principle has been adopted by the governments of Scotland, Wales, and parts of the European Union, and it is the idea that nuclear waste should be stored on the site it is generated”.
The idea of the proximity principle is again, a sound concept when one hears it, nuclear waste should be stored on, or near the area it was generated. This way you are not running the logistical risks that come with the transportation of such material, nor are you involving another community in what is fundamentally a waste disposal business.
After a very long and informative discussion, I asked Lloyd one final question: “Why should students care about this facility being built?”. Lloyd paused for a moment and then said “For young people one of the real issues here is that the NWMO is trying to lock in a design that won't be carried out for ten to fifteen years, so people that are in their twenties right now will be expected to be the workforce for this project. For someone going to university in Thunder Bay, it may seem far away, but when we reach a year that does have a bearing on you, the decision will have already been made back in 2024”.
My conversation with Brennain Lloyd was a great reminder that the opinions we have must be challenged regularly. Through this conversation, I considered new perspectives and formed new opinions that contradict what I had thought previously. In the future, I would like to further explore this topic, and maybe ask someone from the NWMO these new questions I have.
Northwatch and more information about what their organization does can be found here at Northwatch.org