Radioactive "cargo" on the Great Lakes would violate Haudenosaunee 7th Generation Philosophy

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River contain 20% of the world's surface fresh water.An op-ed in the Toronto Star by associate professor of environment at the University of Toronto, Stephen Bede Scharper, points out that in addition to being the drinking water supply and source of fisheries, the Great Lakes are also the source of emotional and spiritual sustenance for more than 35 million people in the U.S., Canada, and numerous Native American First Nations. Thus it's easy to see how Bruce Power's shipment of 16 plutonium-contaminated steam generators on the Great Lakes, approved by the Canadian Nuclear Safety (sic) Commission on Feb. 4th, would violate not only the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Spiritual Philosophy, but also the Preautionary Principle. Speaking of the Haudenosaunee, the Mohawk Nations have spoken out strongly against this shipment, as have a number of other First Nations coalitions in Ontario and Quebec. The fight now may now be moving into the Canadian courts, as well as to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. PHMSA's approval is required before the shipment can enter U.S. waters on the Great Lakes. A growing environmental coalition is calling on PHMSA to undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement, complete with public heaings and a public comment period.

KIMO lambasts proposal for BP radioactive waste shipment to traverse European marine waters

16 of these 100 ton radioactive steam generators would sail the Great Lakes and Atlantic, if BP gets its way.KIMO (Kommunenes Internasjonale Miljøorganisasjon, which translates as Local Authorities International Environmental Organisation) -- a European environmental coalition of municipal authorities dedicated to protecting their marine environment homelands -- has spoken out strongly against Bruce Power's (BP) proposal to ship 16 plutonium-contaminated steam generators to Sweden for so-called "recycling." The Studsvik radioactive metal "recycling" facility -- besides contaminating the recycled metal supply with hazardous radioactivity -- also spews radioactive discharges into the Baltic Sea, which does not sit well with KIMO. As also reported on its homepage, KIMO has also spoken out against the hazards of so-called "floating" nuclear power plants, as proposed by the Russian nuclear establishment (the French nuclear establishment, for its part, has proposed underwater atomic reactors for deployment on the ocean floor -- perhaps to complement the radioactive waste its La Hague reprocessing facility already spews into the English Channel?!).

NDP urges Ontario premier to put the brakes on radioactive steam generator shipment

The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) has urged Ontario provincial premier McGuinty to postpone any permits for shipping 16 radioactive steam generators from Bruce Nuclear Power Plant to the Port of Owen Sound -- where they would be loaded onto a boat for shipment across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River to Sweden -- until the province has a solid "low" and "intermediate" level radioactive waste management policy. The NDP also condemned the "special arrangement" between Bruce Power and the Canadian Nuclear Safety (sic) Commission which has been approved, despite this shipment's lack of containers for the radioactive waste, as well as the amount of radioactivity aboard the single vessel, both of which are in violation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety standards.

U.S. agency could stop Canadian radioactive waste shipment on the Great Lakes

Eartha Jane Melzer at the Michigan Messenger has reported that the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) could block Bruce Power's proposal to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through U.S. territorial waters on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, despite Canadian Nuclear Safety (sic) Commission approval of the plan. She quotes Terry Lodge, pro bono attorney for the binational environmental coalition opposing the shipment. Terry first wrote PHMSA on behalf of the coalition nearly five months ago.

Mohawk Nation communities condemn CNSC for approving radioactive waste shipment through their territories on Great Lakes and St. Lawrence

The Mohawk Nation communities of Akwesasne, Kahnawake, and Tyendinaga have issued a strongly worded statement condemning the Canadian Nuclear Safety (sic) Commission's approval of Bruce Power's application to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through their territories via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River to Sweden for so-called "recycling."