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Premier Shawn Graham, Energy Minister Jack Keir and every other politician of whatever stripe in New Brunswick need to be told and to clearly understand that New Brunswickers do not want and will not accept a national nuclear waste dump in this province no matter how deep underground, how many jobs it creates or how many glib assurances are given about its safety. Enlarge Photo Click to Enlarge Click to Enlarge Premier Graham has refused to just say "no" to the idea, and as the Nuclear Waste Management Organization prepares to hold public "information" meetings in New Brunswick to find out if the public thinks the "process" proposed for determining a permanent nuclear waste dump site is "fair" and "appropriate," Minister Keir has said "Whatever they do, I want to make sure they do it right and that it's in the interest of Canadians, not just New Brunswickers."

Premier Shawn Graham won't rule out the idea of New Brunswick becoming the storage site for nuclear waste from across the country. Instead, Graham said he wants to allow the process to select a site unfold and ensure New Brunswick is a partner in the discussions. "It's important that New Brunswick is at the table, in discussion with the stakeholders because we want to see what types of proposals are being put forward and my firm priority now is that New Brunswick should be involved in the process," said Graham.

Speculation about storing nuclear waste in the province is premature, said New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir, even as a growing number of experts say the province has geology that may be suited to the task. '[The province] might be suitable and it might be possible to develop a repository'- Tom Al, UNB geologist The Nuclear Waste Management Organization was in New Brunswick this week meeting with people in various communities about its plan to build an underground storage site somewhere in Canada for spent nuclear fuel. The organization, which was formed in 2002 to be responsible for the long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel, seemed to catch the provincial government off guard on Thursday when a company official said that any of the four Canadian provinces involved in the nuclear industry - New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan - could be home to this proposed storage facility.

"The Canadian government may be hampered in trying to sell Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. because of a decision by the New Brunswick government to work with a competitor, the Globe and Mail reported. New Brunswick dropped a proposal by Atomic Energy to build a new nuclear reactor because the Canadian crown corporation had failed to make progress on a plan to build the reactor and sell the power to New England, the newspaper said. Instead, the province signed a letter of intent yesterday with Areva SA of France to build a so-called "energy park." "

There are two million high-level radioactive fuel bundles sitting at temporary storage sites in Canada, as the Nuclear Waste Management Organization wrestles with the mandate of finding a community to host a central storage facility for the waste for perhaps tens of thousands of years. More than 120,000 high-level radioactive fuel bundles are stored at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick. (Canadian Press)More than 120,000 high-level radioactive fuel bundles are stored at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick. (Canadian Press) Throw in the fact that the cost of storing this nuclear waste could be up to $24 billion - a figure that will likely rise - and environmental groups are dead set against a central facility, and it shapes up to be a challenge of colossal proportions. The process of finding a site to bury the high-level spent fuel has dragged on for decades as reactors keep churning out more spent bundles.

"This is a matter of life and death," he says. "New Brunswick has the highest rate of cancer in Canada. So why would you want to bring in something to cause more cancer?" Exploratory drilling has been going on in New Brunswick for the past two years. A large supply of uranium has been found between Harvey and New Maryland. There's also interest in opening a mine outside of Moncton. If approved, mining could begin within 12 years.

The price of uranium is skyrocketing, and we're a have-not province with aspirations of self-sufficiency and a government apparently willing to make major changes to achieve that goal. This gives New Brunswickers two big problems to consider. The first problem with the speculation about uranium mining in New Brunswick is environmental. It's no good to start exporting uranium if there's a risk you'd have to start importing water, environment contaminant clean-up service providers, and oncologists. No provincial government should be so blinded by a quick buck as to sell out a crucial parcel of the province permanently. (For all practical considerations, one should never consider a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years as anything less than permanent.)

'Inadequate cleaning and flushing' of generator closed nuclear plant Broken generator's governor wasn't flushed adequately Southport | The 10-day shutdown of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant in September was due to inadequate cleaning and flushing procedures during maintenance of the governors on the power plant's emergency diesel generators (EDG), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report on its special inspection of the shutdown. "Since the licensee's cleanliness and flushing procedures were not adequate … the inspectors concluded that foreign material was likely introduced into the (emergency diesel generator) governor during licensee maintenance activities in April 2009," the NRC report said.

'Inadequate cleaning and flushing' of generator closed nuclear plant Broken generator's governor wasn't flushed adequately Southport | The 10-day shutdown of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant in September was due to inadequate cleaning and flushing procedures during maintenance of the governors on the power plant's emergency diesel generators (EDG), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report on its special inspection of the shutdown. "Since the licensee's cleanliness and flushing procedures were not adequate … the inspectors concluded that foreign material was likely introduced into the (emergency diesel generator) governor during licensee maintenance activities in April 2009," the NRC report said.

SAINT JOHN - A prominent researcher and academic says New Brunswick should abandon its pursuit of the nuclear energy sector in favour of renewable energy and related new technology. Yves Gagnon, who holds the K.C. Irving Chair in Sustainable Development at the Université de Moncton, said after a presentation to an IT conference Tuesday that, if the province wants to become a leader in the energy sector, it should forget about nuclear energy and fossil fuel-based energy generation in favour of wind, solar and tidal power.

Storing Canada's nuclear waste in one single location will not be a process that will happen overnight, this year, or even in the next decade or two. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is considering New Brunswick, along with Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan (all of which are Canada's nuclear provinces) as possible areas to house the nation's used nuclear fuel in the long-term, all in an underground repository. Mike Krizanc, spokesman for the NWMO, said the process of setting guidelines for choosing a site will likely take the rest of 2009 to cement. But that would be just filling the foundation of the entire project.

Fasteners made for spent fuel storage devices at Oyster Creek Generation Station and several other power plants did not meet standards, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC Web site lists information by Transnuclear Inc. that reported "a potential Part 21 violation and has reason to believe that Hwa Shin Bolt Ind. Co. provided unsubstantiated certified material." Transnuclear is performing an evaluation and does not believe the issue has safety significance. However, the company is reporting this issue because Hwa Shin may have supplied parts that may have safety significance, the report stated. The firm also reported that in addition to Oyster Creek, affected plants include Millstone Power Station in Connecticut, Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, Ginna in New York, Brunswick in North Carolina and Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said that initial reviews by Exelon Nuclear, owners of Oyster Creek, have determined Oyster Creek is in possession of the fasteners in question. "However, none are in casks currently in use, that is, in casks loaded with spent fuel," he said.

Fasteners made for spent fuel storage devices at Oyster Creek Generation Station and several other power plants did not meet standards, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC Web site lists information by Transnuclear Inc. that reported "a potential Part 21 violation and has reason to believe that Hwa Shin Bolt Ind. Co. provided unsubstantiated certified material." Transnuclear is performing an evaluation and does not believe the issue has safety significance. However, the company is reporting this issue because Hwa Shin may have supplied parts that may have safety significance, the report stated. The firm also reported that in addition to Oyster Creek, affected plants include Millstone Power Station in Connecticut, Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, Ginna in New York, Brunswick in North Carolina and Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said that initial reviews by Exelon Nuclear, owners of Oyster Creek, have determined Oyster Creek is in possession of the fasteners in question. "However, none are in casks currently in use, that is, in casks loaded with spent fuel," he said.

Regardless of whether Canada's nuclear waste gets sent to New Brunswick for long-term storage, the radioactive material would never-the-less be transported through the province by way of truck, train or boat to such a facility, says the group responsible for finding a storage site. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization says the issue of transporting used nuclear fuel from reactors across the country to one main underground storage facility is a major part of their site selection process, and they want to hear from the public about their methods and procedure. The organization held a public information meeting yesterday in Fredericton, the first in a series of provincial meetings about the process of selecting a site. Similar public meetings will take place today in Edmundston and Saint John, with another scheduled June 18 in Bathurst.

Areva Inc has announced a five-year deal that will see it become the comprehensive supplier of services and products for Progress Energy's four nuclear power plants. The deal will see Areva provide refuelling and outage services, replace and repair plant equipment, and provide engineering and maintenance support plus other technical services to Progress Energy's plants in North and South Carolina and Florida.

"Facing South reports: Emergencies were declared at two Progress Energy nuclear power plants in the Carolinas over the weekend due to fires. There was also a fire at a nuclear power plant in Ohio on Sunday that sent two firefighters to the hospital. The blazes were put out and disaster averted, but the incidents underscore concerns about U.S. nuclear plants' failure to comply with fire safety regulations. The first incident happened on Friday night at the Brunswick plant near Wilmington, N.C. At about 10:45 p.m., a fire broke out in the turbine building on the plant's non-nuclear side, burning for more than 15 minutes. Plant personnel determined that the fire was caused by electric blankets used for post-weld heat treatments, fueled by tape used to hold the blankets together."

FREDERICTON - The New Brunswick government has developed new guidelines for mining companies exploring for uranium in the province. Natural Resources Minister Donald Arseneault confirmed yesterday that the new guidelines are in now in place and have been submitted to a number of companies exploring for uranium. "We were working to develop our own standards as we saw an increase in uranium exploration," he said. "Those standards have been finalized and provided to the industry to follow."

Two huge turbine rotors destined for New Brunswick's Point Lepreau nuclear generating station are lying on the bottom of Saint John harbour after they somehow ended in the water as they were being loaded on to a barge Wednesday. Initial reports that said the barge had capsized were not true, said Mary Keith, a spokeswoman for Irving Equipment. "We don't know what caused these pieces of equipment to tip into the water," she said. No one was hurt in the morning incident, but officials of Worksafe New Brunswick were called in to investigate.

Canadians have until Dec. 15 to make suggestions on the design of the process to select a storage facility site for high-level nuclear waste. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is responsible for the long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel. It was established in 2002 by Ontario Power Generation Inc., Hydro- Québec and New Brunswick Power Corporation, under the Nuclear Fuel Waste Act. People can make a submission, participate in an online discussion or complete a survey on the NWMO website, a news release from the organization says.

The author of a book that strikes down uranium exploration in Canada is applauding the New Brunswick government for its recent roadblocks to mining the element in the province. Jim Harding, a retired environmental and justice studies professor and author of Canada's Deadly Secret: Saskatchewan Uranium and the Global Nuclear System, made a stop in Moncton yesterday on a cross-country tour to chastise any move towards mining the radioactive rock. Harding argued the thesis of his book, which flatly states uranium creates more problems than solutions, backing his claim on a timeline of Saskatchewan's mining experience.

Hydro-Quebec decision to refurbish its only nuclear reactor may yield benefits to New Brunswick. The Quebec electricity utility will spend $1.9 billion to extend the life of the aging Gentilly 2 Candu 6 nuclear reactor to 2040. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) and General Electric were both awarded fixed-priced contracts for the refurbishment. Closing the plant down would have cost $1.6 billion.

FREDERICTON (CP) - Environmental groups in New Brunswick are calling for an immediate ban on uranium exploration and mining as companies continue staking large swaths of the province. Representatives of several conservation groups said Wednesday about 30 organizations, including church and farming groups, have signed a statement calling for a no-uranium mining policy, similar to moratoriums already in place in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.