Owen Sound Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners says her gut reaction to a plan to ship decommissioned steam generators to Sweden by way of the city’s streets and its harbour was a negative one.
And she says nothing she has heard since has changed her opinion.
The Mayor says she feels that, at the least, it’s not an appropriate use of the harbour.
At worst, Lovell Stanners says it’s unsafe.
But some of her council colleagues believe the risks of the project will be mitigated, and so it should go ahead.
Bruce Power plans to truck 16 generators through Bruce and Grey counties, one each business day for about three weeks in September and October, taking them to the Owen Sound harbour.
They will be placed aboard a ship bound for Sweden, where they will be recycled.
The generators were removed from Bruce A Units 1 and 2 during their refurbishment.
They are considered low-level nuclear waste but, because they each weigh 100 tonnes, Bruce Power will need a permit to truck them along local roads and highways — including the streets of Owen Sound.
Company officials appeared before city council on Monday night to discuss the plan.
They say the load isn’t much heavier than some other traffic that might be seen on the streets from time to time.
They also say the radiation in the generators isn’t much different than what would be found in isotopes routinely transported along highways to hospitals and other medical research facilities.
While Bruce Power has assured the City the process is safe — Lovell Stanners says that’s probably what B-P told people on the Gulf of Mexico.
Although the Goderich harbour was also considered by Bruce Power for this project, it would not be sufficient. Owen Sound is the only other option the company has.
Councillors asked whether or not a heavy-load permit could be denied to Bruce Power once it asks for the necessary permission.
Ross Lamont — the company’s manager of community and government relations — says he hopes the city won’t refuse the permit and will work with the company to express municipal concerns so Bruce Power can try to alleviate them.
Any denial without a plausible reason could lead to legal action, Lamont hinted.
Bruce Power has agreement in principle from Transport Canada, which owns the city’s harbour, for the plan. Everything really hinges on regulatory approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
Lamont told Council that local Medical Officer of Health Dr. Hazel Lynn is in support of the plan.
City Council responded by passing a motion to invite Lynn to an upcoming meeting to personally share her thoughts.
Councillor Tom Pink says that if Bruce Power is working to mitigate any risks, there is no reason to stand in their way.
Pink says the harbour is meant to be a working harbour and is promoted as such.
He also says it’s appropriate that the city should have to take some responsibility for the waste generated by nuclear power, given that the region benefits so greatly from the presence of Bruce Power.
Mayor Lovell Stanners says she doesn’t appreciate that Bruce Power plans to do this not only this time, but several times in the future as well.
Lamont confirmed that the company will most likely resort to the same plan when it needs to replace the generators in its other six reactors, representing another 48 generators.
