By Lisa Schick

Harding says no to nuclear waste

Feb 3, 2011 | 10:34 AM

Northern Saskatchewan could soon be home to a nuclear waste storage facility, but not if Jim Harding has anything to say about it.

Harding, a former environmental studies professor at the University of Waterloo, said he believes nuclear waste in Saskatchewan is the wrong way to go.

Not only are there environmental problems, but there’s also the cost of the program, he said.

According to Harding, the nuclear industry is saying the program will cost $30 million, but he said it will cost much more by the time everything, especially the waste management costs, are added up.

He cited nuclear waste storage sites in Germany, the U.S. and England which have had problems with growing costs.

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Harding, also a big believer in renewable resources, said renewable power would be a much better investment of the money than would be put into the waste storage sites.

“If we were to put that kind of money into transition to renewables that don’t leave a waste stream, which carries its own costs as well as burdens, we’d not only not produce more waste, but we’d be creating the alternative which at some point we have to do anyway,” he said.

Harding is part of a group which is trying to bring new information to the masses.

There were some First Nations representatives he spoke with that told him they weren’t aware of any of the things he brought to their attention, Harding said.

This group, along with Harding, is holding talks along the Yellowhead highway, the route for the nuclear waste transport if the project goes through.

They hope to give information to the citizens this project would affect most who wouldn’t have had access to both sides of the debate, Harding said.

“We want to discuss what the plan of the industry is, propose an alternative, look at the real costs and alternative ways to do economic development in the north, and of course really be sure the public understands what these high level nuclear reactor wastes are,” said Harding.

Part of the reason many people are unaware that the debate exists, said Harding, is because of the provincial government’s passivity on the subject.

According to Harding they are sitting back and letting the nuclear industry do what they want in the province when they should be stepping in.

“We’re wondering why the provincial government is just allowing the industry to be negotiating with singe communities when this is actually a province-wide issue with implications for people all along the transportation routes,” said Harding.

He hopes that by bringing the issue of nuclear waste storage to the forefront of people’s minds it will become a big issue in the next provincial election.

English River and Pinehouse are the two communities in question regarding the potential storage facilties.

The nuclear waste would be transported from Ontario power plants on the number one highway and then up the Yellowhead highway, which goes through the Prince Albert city limits.

Jim Harding will be speaking at the JMC Public Library on Thursday at 7 p.m. in his series called “Why Saskatchewan Need a Nuclear Waste Ban.”

lschick@panow.com