Unacceptable Conception of What Constitutes "Safe Storage" of Spent Nuclear FuelThe concept of "safe storage of spent nuclear fuel [in] a deep repository" is refuted by many scientists and others. In response to the news of the scheme to transport nuclear waste from Japan for storage in Canada, Mycle Schneider, an international consultant on nuclear energy based in Paris said, "I must say I was really stunned that there is a small group of very high-profile representatives that are coming together to form this conspiracy." Radio-Canada writes, "Schneider, whose expertise is sought after around the world, said this type of project should be led by governments, not industrialists. 'We are not talking about building a garage somewhere. We're talking about a highly complex project that no country in the world has so far successfully implemented and, you know, storing radioactive material.' Schneider also takes issue with the group's explicit wishes to keep their plans covert, considering 'the dangers of the substances involved.'"
Mycle Schneider told Radio-Canada that the emails show this project focuses on working with other nations to store their waste, starting with Japan, something that has not been done before. "And there are good reasons," Schneider said. "This is extremely radioactive material. From a metre away, if spent fuel is not protected, it would deliver a lethal dose to a human being within a minute." The issue for many is that governments are not under their control. DGRs, whether in Canada or elsewhere, forestall doing the necessary research to find a safe method to handle, recycle or otherwise dispose of nuclear waste. The oligarchs in control want the people to ignore the issue and accept DGRs as the only possibility without discussion and without scientific merit. Under neo-liberalism, the role of governments is not to permit posing the question of the need to replace the system which brings and keeps such governments in power. Japan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region exposed to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis. DGRs cannot even be considered anywhere near the Ring of Fire, which begs the question why the imperialists have built so many nuclear power plants throughout Japan in the first place without considering what to do with the nuclear waste and with little concern of the dangers involved for nuclear plants from earthquakes and tsunamis. Of note is that the U.S. has built six nuclear power plants in California above or near the San Andreas Fault, which is a section of the Ring of Fire.
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Radio-Canada continues, "The practice is known as a 'deep geological
repository' or DGR. Canada's Nuclear Waste Management Organization has
for years tried to build a DGR to bury waste from Canadian nuclear
power plants, including in Ontario."