Bruce Power plans to hold a series of open houses regarding plans to ship 16 decommissioned steam generators from Owen Sound.
A public meeting has been set for July 27th at the Grey Bruce Health Unit office in Owen Sound from 5 PM to 8 PM.
Ross Lamont — the company’s Manager of Community and Government Relations — says similar meetings will be held in Saugeen Shores and at the Bruce Power Visitors’ Centre.
Bruce Power has also changed its original plans.
The 38 feet long by eight feet wide generators — which weigh 100 tonnes — will be transported by special trucks from the Tiverton-area nuclear plant to Owen Sound.
Then, they will be placed aboard a ship about the size of the Chi-Cheemaun.
The ship will be docked in Owen Sound for about four weeks while the generators are brought in, one at a time, and put directly on the ship from the truck.
That differs from the original plan, which was to store the generators on the harbour wall for about five weeks and then load them onto the ship over a couple of days.
Lamont points to that as a sign that Bruce Power is willing to listen to concerns that are expressed, and then work to alleviate those concerns.
As for concerns regarding radiation — Lamont repeated what he has already said to a number of other councils.
He says you would have to stand within two metres of a generator for two hours to get as many waves out of it as you would receive during a chest X-ray.
Lamont acknowledges that many who fear this project do so because, generally speaking, we fear what we don’t understand.
But Lamont also says that some critics of nuclear energy will prey on that fear and spread misinformation in order to bolster their criticisms.
And that’s what the public open houses are designed to work against.
