Canadian nuclear waste disposal politics

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

Dear Radsafers,



Here is an item that is of particular concern to Canadian subscribers of

this mailing list, but which somewhat parallels the Yucca Mountain debate in

the U.S. and similar N-waste disposal initiatives/research in other

countries.



Canadian Senator Lois Wilson, one of the members of the Seaborn Nuclear Fuel

Waste Management and Disposal Concept review panel, had written a book on

her eight years (!) of experiences on that panel.

Review meetings active participant J.A.L. (Archie) Robertson has just

written a lengthy critique of Lois Wilson's book.

Wilson is a former director of Energy Probe Research Foundation, a local

antinuclear group, but her former affiliation was never made known to

participants in the review, and did not (!) disqualify  her from sitting on

the Panel (naturally she was thrilled to have her former associates appear

before the panel to make presentations...).

The Panel found the nuclear waste disposal concept (deep burial) developed

by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) to be "technically safe but

lacking broad public support." 

In reference to the panel's chairman, Blair Seaborn, the report is also

known as the BS report.



Wilson says,



"Our carefully crafted words reflected a more sophisticated approach that

highlighted the fact that there is a point of view that believes the concept

is not safe. This is what the report said, and I quote, "Safety must be

viewed from two complimentary perspectives: technical and social. From a

technical perspective, safety of the AECL concept has been, on balance,

adequately demonstrated for a conceptual stage of development, but from a

social perspective, it has not."   In other words the panel broadened the

meaning of safety beyond the traditional meaning of technical safety, and

emphasized the experience and historical memory of people in assessing the

concept from a social safety perspective."



The  good news  is that Wilson's book is not readily available. 

The bad news is that the book is appalling.  

Robertson's  detailed critique runs to nearly twenty pages.

This is now available at



http://www.magma.ca/~jalrober/critique.htm



...and other posted work by the same author is available at



http://www.magma.ca/~jalrober/



Robertson invites  you to make its existence known to those who may find it

useful.



Jaro

frantaj@aecl.ca



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