Re: CBC news: Nuclear waste on the Great Lakes

[Tim <tstead@ntirs.org>]

Lake Michigan is a very large reservoir.  20% of the

Earth's fresh water supply is contained in the Great

Lakes.  That is quite a bit of water to dillute

anything that could leak into the water.



Maybe that's why nobody complains about ships, boats,

barges, & other water craft from floating on that very

same water.  Think about it.  Gasoline & diesel fuel

are some of the most toxic substances around yet

nobody qualms about a boat carrying thousands of

pounds of the stuff from crossing the lake.  Let's not

even talk about the thin tanks that contain the fuel

and how easily they are ruptured.



Why aren't activists up in arms about the hundreds of

thousands - if not millions of gallons of gasoline &

diesel that cross the Lakes that could spill and

contaminate this drinking water?  What about all the

dead & decaying fish, fish poop, and human waste that

is released to the water?



Tim



--- "Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA> wrote:

> Seems the only person who's ever heard of this is

> Ohio Congressman Dennis

> Kucinich. 

> Is there anything to his story ?

> Thanks.

> Jaro 

> 

> 

> On the CBC news this morning was the following:

> 

> Critics condemn plan to ship nuclear waste across

> Lake Michigan 

> Last Updated Wed, 01 May 2002 9:17:24 

> 

> WASHINGTON - A proposal by the United States could

> see nuclear waste carried

> across Lake Michigan by barge, a plan the Canadian

> government does not seem

> to know about. 

> 

> Under a new program likely to become law this

> summer, nuclear waste from the

> U.S. will be stored in a cavern dug out of Nevada's

> Yucca Mountain. 

> 

> It will be shipped by truck or rail, raising

> concerns from major U.S. cities

> along the route who fear a collision or derailment

> could lead to a leak. 

> 

> But the U.S. Department of Energy also announced

> plans to ship thousands of

> tons of nuclear waste from reactors on the shores of

> Lake Michigan to

> transfer sites on nearby railroads. 

> 

> Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich condemned the idea

> last week on Capitol

> Hill. 

> 

> "Over 35 million people living in the Great Lakes

> basin get their drinking

> water from the Great Lakes and I venture to guess

> they will not appreciate

> the fact that nuclear waste is being shipped across

> their drinking water,"

> said Kucinich. 

> 

> While Lake Michigan lies completely inside the U.S.,

> it is part of the Great

> Lakes and run by the International Joint Commission.

> 

> 

> But senior nuclear experts at the Commission told

> CBC News that they have no

> knowledge of the proposal to ship nuclear waste

> across Lake Michigan. 

> 

> Their counterparts at Canada's Department of Foreign

> Affairs, the Department

> of Transport, the Department of the Environment and

> the Canadian Nuclear

> Safety Commission also said they hadn't heard of the

> proposal. 

> 

> Because the barges of nuclear waste will sail inside

> the US, there are no

> legal requirements Canada be informed. 

> 

> But Paul Muldoon, head of the Canadian Environmental

> Law Association in

> Toronto, says Canada needs to get involved. 

> 

> "The absence of Canadian involvement is a major

> problem unless action is

> taken very soon and the Canadian public is assured

> by the Canadian

> government that it will become involved, that it

> will pursue defence of

> Canadian interests abroad," said Muldoon. 

> 

> If the disposal plan is approved this summer, barges

> carrying nuclear waste

> could set sail on Lake Michigan in eight years. 

> 

> Written by CBC News Online staff 

> 

> 





__________________________________________________

Do You Yahoo!?

Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness

http://health.yahoo.com

************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.

You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/