Haldimand "Bruce Power Hires Radiation Specialist"

I find it interesting that this Specialist that was hired by Bruce Power seems to think that the issue that most people are talking about is radiation. What I have heard is a bit different.

Some of the concerns I have heard are the storage of nuclear waste, water usage and what has come up recently is the mining of uranium. Now that in itself is a whole new ball game! I am working on that one.

What I find interesting is that this specialist states "Nuclear" power is the way to go if you want to minimize our carbon footprint! So what is a "carbon footprint"? I'm not quite sure, but I do think it is more than "radiation" from a nuclear plant!

Nuclear experts hired to answer residents' questions
Posted By MONTE SONNENBERG, SUN MEDIA
November 25, 2008

A radiation specialist will be a key player in a series of open houses related to the proposed construction of two nuclear reactors in Nanticoke.

Bruce Power recently hired Doug Boreham, a former professor at Mc-Master University in Hamilton, as its senior environmental scientist. He will answer questions about nuclear power at upcoming open houses in Simcoe, Jarvis, Port Dover and Cayuga.

"One of the biggest obstacles we have to overcome on these projects are people's fears of radiation," Boreham said Monday. "What is the effect on me? What is the effect on my children? What are the effects on future generations? One of my main functions in this process is to dispel the fears people have about radiation."

Boreham and Duncan Moffett, of Golder Associates, gave Haldimand council an overview Monday of the environmental assessment now underway regarding a possible nuclear installation in Nanticoke. The pair are expected to make the same presentation tonight at Norfolk council.

The open houses scheduled for Dec. 1 to 4 will provide Bruce Power with an opportunity to introduce itself to the community. Experts on nuclear power will be on hand to address residents' questions and concerns.

An issue that has dogged the nuclear industry from the outset is the belief that nuclear waste remains highly toxic for as long as 250,000 years.

That, Boreham said, is not true. After 200 years, he said, a person would have to stand in the presence of a spent fuel rod for one hour to absorb as much radioactivity as is delivered by a standard CT scan.

Boreham and Moffett heard Monday that a plant in Nanticoke may be an issue for Dunnville. The town is down stream from the proposed site and draws its drinking water from Lake Erie.

Nuclear reactors use large amounts of water and discharge trace amounts of radioactive tritium in their effluent. The International Congress on Radiation Protection has set the safe limit for these emissions at 7,500 becquerels.

The amount of tritium released into Lake Huron at Bruce Power's plant in Tiverton averages about 50 becquerels. Moffett said Bruce Power is considering a design for the Nanticoke project that discharges no effluent into Lake Erie.

Moffett added that nuclear power should be the choice of those who wish to minimize their carbon footprint.

"If you were to get all your electricity from one of these reactors, your share of waste over a lifetime would fit in a pop can," he said. "If you got all of your electricity over your lifetime from coal, your waste would fit into four dump trucks."

Moffett said, "Nanticoke looks like one of the best possible sites for a power plant" because it is remote, close to a large body of water and located at the entry point of a major transmission corridor.

The first open house will be held at the Lions Community Centre in Port Dover Dec. 1. The Lions Community Centre in Jarvis is up next Dec. 2. On Dec. 3, the Simcoe Recreation Centre plays host. On Dec. 4, the event moves to the Kinsmen Centre in downtown Cayuga. Each event starts at 3 p. m. and ends at 8 p. m.

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