I am writing today about a major issue that could affect drinking water in Ottawa, and the future of nuclear waste across the region. In 2021, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is preparing to hold hearings and grant a license to a permanent radioactive waste facility alongside the Ottawa River at Chalk River, upstream from the City of Ottawa. We need your help now to stop this plan before it’s too late.

The city of Gatineau, the communities of Clarence-Rockland, East Hawkesbury, Champlain, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, and over 100 Québec municipalities have passed similar resolutions opposing this radioactive waste plan.

Your constituents are very worried that dangerous radioactive waste could contaminate the Ottawa River if these plans are not changed. These nuclear facilities are operated by the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) consortium, including SNC-Lavalin and two American corporations, under a federal government contract. CNL plans to ship radioactive waste from federal nuclear sites in Manitoba, Southern Ontario and Québec to Chalk River. Together with existing radioactive waste at Chalk River from contaminated land and buildings, it will be put into an engineered containment mound that CNL refers to as a “Near Surface Disposal Facility” (NSDF). The waste will be contained in a “geomembrane” and be covered over by a combination of sand, stone, gravel and top soil.

This “mound”:

will be 7 stories high and cover 11 hectares – the area of 70 NHL hockey rinks
will contain one million cubic metres of radioactive nuclear waste
is directly over an active earthquake zone above porous and fractured rock
is less than a kilometre from the Ottawa River
is beside a small lake that drains directly into the Ottawa River through a creek

Portions of the mound will remain uncovered for over 50 years. Radioactive material will mix with rain and snow, creating contaminated water that is very difficult to treat. Some of this radioactive waste will be released into the environment and make its way back to the Ottawa River. Climate change, with unpredictable, catastrophic weather, potential earthquakes, and flooding could all contribute to permanent radioactive contamination of the Ottawa River.

Please note that we are not taking issue with the Laboratories' ongoing work, but with where and how CNL manages the radioactive waste itself. We are alarmed by CNL's plans to consolidate radioactive waste at Chalk River and entomb a defunct nuclear reactor at nearby Rolphton, ON. Both sites are far too close to the Ottawa River, and the potential for contamination is too great. 

In summary, we are asking you to support the resolution proposed by Councillor Kavanagh in Ottawa to oppose CNL’s proposals as they currently stand at the upcoming vote on February 24th and oppose the importation of nuclear waste to Chalk River from other locations, as other municipalities have already done. 

Thank you,

Aija Auzina

Member, OSEAN
Ottawa South Eco Action Network