Upwards of 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and groups from a dozen nations, and over 150 individuals throughout and beyond the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway have signed onto a resolution (pasted below) opposing Bruce Power’s plan to transport radioactively contaminated equipment through the Great Lakes, along the St. Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Baltic Sea to Sweden for melting and release into the marketplace.
The resolution calls for:
(1) Opposition in principle to any shipment through the Great Lakes of radioactive waste or radioactively contaminated equipment from the decommissioning, refurbishment, or routine operation of nuclear reactors;
(2) The governments of Canada and the U.S.A., as well as indigenous and sovereign First Nation and Tribal governments along the proposed shipment routes, as well as the governments of provinces and states adjacent to the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River to insist that the shipment of old nuclear steam generators through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River not be allowed to take place;
(3) The governments to recognize radioactive steam generators as nuclear waste; they have always been and should be regarded as radioactive waste i.e. not deliberately dispersed into consumer goods or workplaces.
(4) These authorities to declare that radioactive wastes and radioactively contaminated equipment from decommissioning, replacement or routine operation of nuclear power reactors, shall not be allowed to be shipped through the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence River.
This fall (2010), 16 enormous radioactive steam generators from the Bruce nuclear power complex on Lake Huron are scheduled to move to the Studsvik radioactive melter in Sweden. Each 100 tonne metal vessel has 5000 highly radioactive pipes inside. The goal should be to isolate the hot pipes – not dispense radioactivity into daily-use items in the marketplace. To save money, Bruce Power plans to melt the hot metal down in Sweden, where most of it would be sold into everyday commerce.
The Studsvik plant in Sweden has signed a contract with Bruce Power that would result in as much as 90 % of the radioactive metal being released into the marketplace for use in commercial and everyday household products. The European Commission’s EURATOM Recommendation RP 89 allows measurable amounts of plutonium, cesium-137, cobalt-60, enriched uranium, tritium, and other radioactive contaminants to be present in metals that are “free-released” to the open market, [1] but this practice has been largely stopped in the U.S. despite repeated industry and government efforts. US regulations do not allow release of radioactive metal into the free market, but metal that is released in Sweden can make its way into the international metal supply, if not stopped.
Studsvik’s processes for treating the wastes are reportedly adding to the radioactive contamination of the Baltic Sea, and allow radioactive contamination into metals released for unrestricted use to the global markets.
“The commercial metal industry, a leader in recycling, should not be burdened and contaminated with radioactive scrap from the nuclear industry,” said Diane D’Arrigo, Radioactive Waste Project Director of Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “We need to prevent the global shipments, melting and mixing of massive radioactive nuclear power machinery into zippers, cookware, baby toys and more,” she said.
This year’s shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators would be the first of two planned by Bruce Power. Later, another 16 radioactive steam generators will be shipped, if Bruce Power has its way. The contract with Studsvik covers a total of 32 steam generators from Bruce. The radioactive hulks would first be trucked to Owen Sound, Ontario and shipped from there. Owen Sound is located on Georgian Bay, a part of Lake Huron.
“To allow these shipments to go ahead will set a terrible precedent, whereby more and more radioactive waste will be shipped through the Great Lakes in future, threatening inevitable and irreversible radioactive contamination of the largest fresh water system in the world,” said Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. “And for what purpose? To pollute our stock of recycled metals with radioactive wastes from the nuclear industry? This plan must be nipped in the bud,” he said.
“It is irresponsible to allow these waste shipments to go through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway,” said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear. “Eighteen months ago, two nuclear turbines weighing 105 tonnes each were dropped into St. John’s Harbour in New Brunswick. If these radioactive steam generators are dropped, there’s enough contamination inside each one to pollute for thousands of years. Citizens should write to authorities at the municipal, regional, state, provincial, national, and international levels to oppose these shipments.”
[1] Waste Volume Reduction at Studsvik AB Stenmark, January 2010 http://www.winsverige.se/arsmotet_2009/2010-01%20Studsvik%20Waste%20Treatment.pdf
The original resolution is posted at: http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
Please find attached the resolution below, followed by signatories.
Resolution to Stop Shipment of:
Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great Lakes
WHEREAS Bruce Power is engaged in a multibillion dollar refurbishment project involving several of the eight Bruce nuclear reactors sited on Lake Huron;
WHEREAS this refurbishment project involves the removal and replacement of thousands of corroded and radioactively contaminated tubes and pipes in the primary cooling circuits of the affected reactors, which will remain on-site as radioactive wastes;
WHEREAS the refurbishment also involves the removal and replacement of 32 huge radioactive steam generators, each weighing approximately 100 tonnes, each about the size of a school bus, and each containing thousands of radioactively contaminated pipes which carried primary coolant from the core of the nuclear reactor;
WHEREAS the pipes inside the old steam generators are contaminated with radioactive fission products, such as cobalt-60 and cesium-137, with radioactive actinides, such as plutonium, americium, and curium, and with radioactive activation products, such as tritium (hydrogen-3) and carbon-14;
WHEREAS the radioactive contaminants inside the old steam generators include alpha-emitters, beta- emitters and gamma-emitters, some of which have half-lives measured in decades, centuries or even millennia;
WHEREAS the decontamination efforts carried out by Bruce Power have not succeeded in removing all radioactive contamination from these old steam generators;
WHEREAS Bruce Power has signed a contract with the Studsvik company in Sweden to receive and dismantle 32 of these old radioactive steam generators from the Bruce Nuclear Complex, to recycle as much of the less radioactive metal as possible for commercial use as scrap metal (up to 90 percent of the total metal in the steam generators), and to return the more radioactive portions to Bruce Power to be stored as radioactive waste;
WHEREAS the recycling of radioactive materials from nuclear reactors as scrap metal for commercial use should not be countenanced or encouraged;
WHEREAS Bruce Power has announced that it intends to ship the old steam generators through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River, and across the Atlantic Ocean to Studsvik in Sweden;
WHEREAS Studsvik intends to return the most radioactive portions back to Bruce Power, presumably following the same route through the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes;
WHEREAS shipping radioactive waste through the Great Lakes is a practice which should be not be allowed because of the potential for long-lived radioactive contamination;
WHEREAS the stigma attached to shipments of radioactive waste materials will affect people’s peace of mind and property values along the transportation route, especially if an accident involving those shipments were to occur;
WHEREAS the shipment of old steam generators through the Great Lakes will set a dangerous precedent for other shipments of radioactive waste materials in future;
WHEREAS the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River system together comprise close to 20% of the world’s surface freshwater; and are a source of drinking water for over 40 million people and a $4 billion fisheries; and which support an amazingly diverse and fragile ecosystem;
WHEREAS the Great Lakes are currently compromised by radioactive contaminations through routine emissions and accidental releases at upwards of 50 nuclear sites. This radioactive burden continues to this day and should not be compounded and endorsed by radioactive steam generator shipments.
WHEREAS Bruce Power¹s plan for transporting radioactive steam generators to Sweden has never come under public scrutiny, either by citizens and local governments along the trucking and shipping routes, or by provincial, state or national governments – including indigenous and sovereign First Nation and Tribal governments – along the waterways of the proposed Great Lakes/St.-Lawrence route, or by international bodies such as the International Joint Commission;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations listed above and below:
(1) are opposed in principle to any shipment through the Great Lakes of radioactive waste or radioactively contaminated equipment from the decommissioning, refurbishment, or routine operation of nuclear reactors;
(2) urge the governments of Canada and the U.S.A., as well as indigenous and sovereign First Nation and Tribal governments along the proposed shipment routes, as well as the governments of provinces and states adjacent to the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, to insist that the shipment of old nuclear steam generators through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River not be allowed to take place;
(3) urge the governments to recognize used nuclear steam generators as radioactive waste; they have always been regarded as radioactive waste and should always be regarded as radioactive waste.
(4) urge that these authorities declare that radioactive wastes and radioactively contaminated equipment from decommissioned or refurbished nuclear reactors, or from routine operation of nuclear reactors, shall not be allowed to be shipped through the Great Lakes or the St. Lawrence River.
Signatories:
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) signing to stop shipment of radioactive steam generators from Bruce nuclear complex:
*** Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility – Montreal, Quebec, Canada *** Tri City Action for Peace – Saginaw, Michigan, USA *** Nuclear Information and Resource Service – Takoma Park, Maryland, USA *** Port Hope Health Concerns Committee – Port Hope, Ontario, Canada *** Beyond Nuclear – Takoma Park, Maryland, USA *** Nuke Watch – Luck, Wisconsin, USA *** Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination – Lake, Michigan, USA *** Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA *** Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-operative – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada *** Sustainable Energy Watch – Paris, France *** Wisconsin Resource Protection Council – La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA *** Western North Carolina Physicians for Social Responsibility – Ashville, North Carolina, USA *** GE Stockholders Alliance – Tucson, Arizona, USA *** Nuclear Energy Information Service – Evanston, Illinois, USA *** BURNT – Nashville, Tennessee, USA *** Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in Tennessee – Tennessee, USA *** Concerned Citizens of Manitoba – Manitoba, Canada *** Toronto Raging Grannies – Toronto, Ontario, Canada *** Physicians for Global Survival Canada – Saskatchewan, Canada *** Lone Tree Council – Midland, Michigan, USA *** Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes – Monroe, Michigan, USA *** Don’t Waste Michigan – Holland, Michigan, USA *** North America Water Office – Lake Elmo, Minnesota, USA *** Voices for Earth Justice – Southfield, Michigan, USA *** Citizens’ Environmental Alliance – Windsor, Ontario, Canada *** Home for Peace & Justice – Saginaw, Michigan, USA *** Citizens Resistance at Fermi Two – Monroe, Michigan, USA *** Indonesian Antinuclear Society / MANUSIA – Jakarta, Indonesia *** Indonesian Green Union / SareKal Hijau Indonesia – Jakarta, Indonesia *** Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment – Toronto, Ontario, Canada *** Sept – Iles sans Uranium / SISUR – Quebec, Canada *** Folkkamppanjen mot Karnkraft Karnvapen – Stockholm, Sweden *** Reseau “Sortir du Nucleaire” / French Nuclear Phaseout Network – France *** Women Against Nuclear Power -Finland *** Greenspiration – Toronto, Ontario, Canada *** Ottawa Council of Women – Ottawa, Quebec, Canada *** Women for Peace – Helsinki, Finland *** Terra Foundation – San Luis Obispo, California, USA *** Mothers for Peace Action Committee – San Luis Obispo, California, USA *** Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice – Pleasant Hill, Tennessee, USA *** Dokis First Nation – Ontario, Canada *** Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Alberta – Peace River, Alberta, Canada *** Citizens for Renewable Energy – Lions Head, Ontario, Canada *** Citizens Against Nuclear Development – Grimshaw, Alberta, Canada *** Nuclear Watch South – Savannah, Georgia, USA *** Flemish Centre for Indigenous People – Sint Niklass, Belgium *** Science for Peace – Toronto, Ontario, Canada *** Baltic Sea Region Radioactivity Watch – Denmark *** Nipissing First Nation – Garden Village, Ontario, Canada *** Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve No. 26 – Wikwemikong, Ontario, Canada *** Toledo Coalition for Safe Energy – Toledo, Ohio, USA *** Provincial Council of Women of Ontario, Ridgeville, Ontario, Canada *** West Athabasca Bioregional Society, Hinton, Alberta, Canada ***
Individuals signing to stop shipment of radioactive steam generators from Bruce nuclear complex:
Eva Selin Lindgren, Parliamentarian, Sweden * Mike Bradley, Mayor, Sarnia, ON, Canada * Rebekah Warren, Michigan State Representative, MI U.S. A. * Sarah Roberts, Michigan State Representative, MI, U.S.A. *Dr. William R. Adamson, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Janis Alton, Mississauga, ON, Canada * Thanasis Anapolitanos, Chairman of the Mediterranean Anti-Nuclear Watch, Rhodes, Greece * Barbara Antonoplos, Atlanta, GA, USA * Olga Athaniti – actor, Vice President of the Mediterranean Nuclear Watch, (MANW), Athens, Greece * Caryle Barr, Calgary, AB, Canada * Lorraine Beardsworth, Prince Albert, SK, Canada * Joan Bell Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Laurienne Bernard-Mazure Le Mont, France * Kathy Berry, Director Responsible Community Network, Port Huron, MI, USA * Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Yardley, PA, USA * Sylvie Berube, Victor Guerette, Peace River, AB, Canada * Jake Binnema, Brownvale, AB, Canada * Angela Bischoff, Toronto, ON, Canada * Sherry and Charles Blake, Bay Tree, AB, Canada * Michelle Blanchette, Prince Albert, SK, Canada * Dr. Stan R. Blecher MD, Port Hope, ON, Canada * Eugene Bourgeois, Inverhuron, ON, Canada * Brenda Brochu, Peace River, AB, Canada * Darlene Buckingham, Tory Hill, ON, Canada * Marion Burton, Keene, ON, Canada * Lisa Christie, Calgary, AB, Canada * Donald B. Clark, Pleasant Hill, TN, USA * Rick Closs, Shellbrook, SK, Canada * Romain Collaire, Rennes, Brittany, France * Robin Comolli, Kingston, ON, Canada * K.P. Connolly, Kingston, ON, Canada * Elaine Cooper, Columbia, SC, USA * Derek Coronado, Windsor, ON, Canada * Rick Coronado, Windsor, ON, Canada * Pat Coulter, Manning, AB, Canada * Ron Cox, Member, Green Party of Saskatchewan, Lloydminster, SK, Canada * Karen Culley, Fenton, MI, USA * Marci R. Culley, Ph.D Atlanta, GA, USA * Kay Cumbow Brown City, MI, USA * Bill Curry, Wynyard, SK, Canada * Alistair Danhieux, St Amand en Puisaye, Nievre, France * Arthur Davis, Toronto, ON, Canada * Dave Dempsey, Rosemount, MN, USA * Judith Deutsch, Toronto, ON, Canada * Lorna Devan, Peterborough, ON, Canada * Dale Dewar, MD, CCFP, Wynyard, SK, Canada * Charles F. Dildine, St. Clair, MI, USA * Neil and Sharon Dobson, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada * Anabel and David Dwyer, Mackinaw City, MI, USA * Paul J. Eisenbarth, MD, Hanover, ON, Canada * Wolfe Erlichman, Godfrey, ON, Canada * Marc Fafard, Moisie, Québec, Canada * Diana Fernlund, Oviken, Sweden * Bobbi Filanda, Port Huron, MI, USA * Ryan Filanda, Astoria, NY, USA * Harold Fisher, Hull (Gat.) QC, Canada * Göran Folin, Nacka, Sweden * Molly Forsythe, McDonald’s Corners, ON, Canada * Peter J. Gauthier, Shawville, QC Canada * Catherine Gibson, Ralph Brooks, Regina, SK, Canada * Odile Girard, France * Terry Gill, Greenwood Township, MI, USA * Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg, MES, PhD, University Lecturer in Ecosystem Health, OISE/UT Toronto, ON, Canada * Elaine Grass, Regina, SK, Canada * Patrick Groulx, Etobicoke, ON, Canada * Janet Stoody, Fort Qu’Appelle, SK., Canada * Jim Harding, Fort Qu’Appelle SK, Canada * Dagan Harding, Regina, SK, Canada * Joel Harding, Vancouver, BC, Canada * Kate Harries, Elmvale, ON, Canada * Patti Hartnagel, Edmonton, AB, Canada * Patrick Herron, Port Huron, MI, USA * Ed Hess, Marilyn Biernot-Hess, Goodells, MI, USA * Bill and Alice Hirt, Holland, MI, USA* Ward Hodge, Midland, MI, USA * Bonnie Hood, Peace River, Alberta, Canada * Chris Hooymans, Calgary, AB, Canada * David Huntley, Burnaby, BC, Canada * Carol Izant, Southfield, MI, USA * Therese Jelinski, Prince Albert, SK, Canada * Jack Jensen, Prince Albert, SK, Canada * Cecile Joly Caen, Normandy, France * Catherine Kaye, Fraserville, ON, Canada * Betty Kruse, Peace River, AB, Canada * Teresa Kurtzhall, Elk, WA, USA * Kurylowich, Joe, Grimshaw, AB, Canada * Pierre Lambert, St-Mathieu-du-Parc, Québec, Canada * Peggy Land, Perth, ON, Canada * Jean-Yvon Landrac, Chantepie, Bretagne, France * Lena Langolf, Seattle, WA, USA * Mary Lou Langolf, Port Huron, MI, USA * Andre Lariviere St.-Didier/Doulon, Auvergne, France * Lea Launokari, Kirkkonummi, Finland * Wanda Laurin, Peace River, AB, Canada * Susanne Lauten, Newmarket, ON, Canada * Eia Liljegren-PalmFr Skrädene, Nytomt, Sweden * Eva Linderoth, Uppsala, Sweden * Anne Lindsey, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada * Trudi Keillor, Berwyn, AB, Canada * Wayne MacDonald, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Sue Machetti, Mt. Horeb, WI, USA * Sini Maury Milton, ON, Canada * Ed McArdle, Melvindale, MI, USA * Nicole Massoulier, France / Japan * Joan McCoy, Saginaw, MI, USA * Pat McNamara, Peace River, Alberta, Canada * Michael and Andrea McCarthy, Port Huron, MI, USA * Byron Millette, Hamilton ON, Chippawas of Nawash Unceded First Nation * Daniel & Luiza Mullen,Trenton, ON, Canada * Linda Murphy, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Elizabeth F. Nanticoke, Acting Director, Department of the Environment, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Mohawk Nation * Kent Newman, Ypsilanti, MI, USA * Mary Nokleby, Calgary, AB, Canada * Elaine Nowak-Wheeler, Blueberry Mountain, AB, Canada * Marcella Pedersen, Cut Knife, SK, Canada * James V. Penna, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Phillip Penna, North Bay, ON, Canada * Diane Plowman, Peace River, AB, Canada * Clare Powell, Regina, SK, Canada * Carol Ray, Fontana, CA, USA * Reynold Reimer, Calgary, AB, Canada * Charlene Rogers, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada * Scott Royder, Republic, WA, USA * Nicholas Rowe and Debra Rowe, Moonstone, ON, Canada * Floyd Rudmin, Kingston, ON, Canada * Adele Boucher Rymhs, Peace River, Alberta, Canada * Dan Rudka, Durham Region, ON, Canada * Sally Schemanski, Dearborn, MI, USA * Sally Shaw, Gill, MA, USA *Tim Seitz, Kingston, ON, Canada * Soubeyran, Vincent, Luxembourg, Luxembourg * Judith Anne Smith, Spruce Pine, North Carolina, USA * Lee Sprague, Grand Rapids, MI, USA * Bob Stuart, Spiritwood, SK, Canada * Jude Thompson, Saginaw, MI, USA * George & Marlene Truhn, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada * Kathryn Truhn, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada * Jennifer Tsun, McDonalds Corners, ON, Unceded Sovereign Haudenosaunee/Nishnaabe Territory * Richard Tyssen, Cobourg, ON, Canada * Cathy Vakil Kingston, ON, Canada * Nayda Veeman, Saskatoon SK, Canada * G.A. Varkonyi, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * David and Lori Verton, Wolfe Island, ON, Canada * Marc Wieser and Nicholas Kemball, Montreal, Quebec, Canada * Laura Sue Wilansky, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA * Denise Wilson, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada * Craig Wonnacott, Calgary, AB, Canada * Wayne Adams, Calgary, AB, Canada. * Charly Hulten, Kalmar, Sweden * Christian Sweningsen, Sweden * Huguette Ropchan, Grimshaw, AB, Canada*