The Mayor of Owen Sound still has a problem with Bruce Power’s plan to store 16 decommissioned steam generators at the city’s harbour.
As we first told you last month — Ruth Lovell Stanners says it is not the vision she had for the City’s harbourfront.
And Lovell Stanners expressed those concerns again at Grey County Council’s meeting on Tuesday.
Bruce Power has already received permission from the federal government to do this, because the harbour is federal property.
But City Council still must approve the plan to transport each of the 100 tonne generators into Owen Sound.
Lovell Stanners says she met with Bruce Power officials, but she wants all of City Council to address the issue in a public meeting.
Bruce Power plans to move the used generators from Bruce A Units 1 and 2 at the Tiverton nuclear plant, one at a time, along roads in Bruce and Grey counties starting in September.
They’re to be stored on the east side of the harbour wall until a ship arrives from Sweden to pick them up for salvage.
Owen Sound is the closest harbour that can accommodate the ship.
Bruce Power officials have said that although the generators are considered intermediate-level nuclear waste, they will be sealed and will be safe.
There will also be a guard near the site 24/7.
Standing next to one of the generators for two hours will supposedly deliver no more radiation than a chest X-ray.
Lovell Stanners says she’s not convinced of the safety of the generators, and she doesn’t believe it’s a good idea to store them next to the harbour for any length of time.
Warden Arlene Wright has suggested the generators should instead be stored in Rockford, on the east side of Highway 6 and 10, until the ship arrives in Owen Sound.
That’s the municipality of Meaford, and Mayor Francis Richardson was caught off guard by the suggestion.
But he wouldn’t comment other than to say it’s a possibility that he’s never even heard before Tuesday, much less considered.
