First Nations oppose nuclear disposal site on unceded lands

A rally took place on Parliament Hill on February 14 in opposition to the proposed nuclear waste disposal site to be built near the Ottawa River.
Photo: Cecile Wilson
By Cecile Wilson
[Atmospheric CO2 at Mauna Loa, Hawaii on February 20, 2024: 425.27]
An ongoing struggle over the construction of a Near Surface Disposal Facility for radioactive waste is shaping up as a battle over transparency, Indigenous rights and environmental health. At stake, according to Chief Lance Haymond of Kebaowek First Nation, is the long-term health of all those who rely on drinking water from the Ottawa River.
In January, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) approved a licence for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to build the disposal facility next to the Chalk River Laboratories site. The laboratories and the future disposal facility are situated on unceded Algonquin-Anishinabeg lands. Although Pikwakanagan First Nation has agreed to CNL’s proposal for the facility, 10 other Algonquin-Anishinabeg Nations have not.
An environmental assessment by the Kebaowek and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg points out that all Algonquin-Anishinabeg have traditionally used the territory that spans both sides of the Ottawa River/Kichi Sibi (Great River). The assessment also documented the presence of culturally significant species – three active bear dens, wolf dens and disease-free black ash and American beech trees – on the proposed site of the disposal facility. As a federal agency, the nuclear safety commission is obligated to consult with the Algonquin nations and “where appropriate,” to “accommodate Indigenous groups” when considering potential impacts on their “Aboriginal or treaty rights,” according to Section 35 the Canadian constitution.
Flawed plan for nuclear waste site met with legal actions
At a rally on Parliament Hill on February 14, several Algonquin-Anishinabeg chiefs led by Chief Haymond indicated their firm opposition to the project. Kebaowek First Nation has asked for a judicial review of the licence, and Chief Casey Ratt and the Council of Mitchikanibikok Inik (Alonquins of Barriere Lake) have asked for a retraction of the license.
They are not alone. Three civil society groups have united to launch a legal challenge as well.
From a health and safety standpoint, the main issues are the accurate classification of historical radioactive wastes and appropriate containment measures for those wastes. Several former employees from the Chalk River site say that a Near Surface Disposal Facility is insufficient for reliably preventing the leakage of radioactive waste into the Ottawa River.
According to the employees, before the year 2000, procedures for waste classification, identification and storage were haphazard and, in some cases, non-existent. It is their contention that waste identified as low-level radioactive waste may contain intermediate-level radioactive waste – radioactive atoms that can cause cancer, genetic mutations and birth defects.
The classification makes a big difference in how the waste should be stored long-term. The CNSC’s own website specifies that intermediate-level waste needs to be contained longer than “several hundred years” and is not suitable for near-surface disposal. The International Atomic Energy Agency specifies that intermediate-level waste should be securely contained and buried tens to hundreds of metres below the surface.
CNL, a private company managed by a consortium that includes AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin), expects the disposal facility to cost $750 million to build and run for 50 years. The plan is to build a mound with the capacity to store 1,000,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste about 1.1 kilometres from the Ottawa River. The mound will have a synthetic bottom layer and, once the site has been filled, a synthetic top layer. Some of the waste will be stored in containers. However, the mound will remain uncovered for the 50 years that it actively operates. CNL insists that the site will be able to withstand significant rainfall, seismic events and the effects of climate change.
Potential threat to drinking water and culturally significant sites
A wastewater treatment plant will be built onsite to filter any water in contact with the waste. However, if there is indeed intermediate-level waste contained in the mound, tritium – a radioactive element without an established minimum dose – cannot be filtered from the water. This water will drain into nearby Perch Lake, which in turn is drained by Perch Creek into the Ottawa River near Pointe au bapthême.
Pointe au bapthême and Oiseau Rock on the opposite side of the Ottawa River/Kichi Sibi are both sacred sites for the Algonquin-Anishinabeg. People already avoid the point due to fears of radioactive leakage from the Chalk River site. Any increased threat from radioactivity will further negate the First Nations’ ability to engage in their historical cultural practices: a right supposedly guaranteed by Canada’s adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Next steps
The approval of construction of the Near Surface Disposal Facility is just the first step. CNL still needs a licence to operate the facility. This is an opportunity for the federal government to put reconciliation into action, not just words, says Chief Haymond.
If you would like more information or to sign their petition, go to www.stopnuclearwaste.com.
Cecile Wilson has lived in the Glebe for 22 years and writes for the Glebe Report on environmental concerns.