Lawyers for Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and the Kebaowek First Nation (KFN) will meet in an Ottawa courtroom this morning to debate the future of the Near Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission agreed early this year to amend CNL’s licence for the Chalk River Laboratories to allow construction of the NSDF on a site approximately 1.1 km from the Ottawa River.
The “engineered containment mound” would be located on a “bedrock ridge” that slopes away from the river towards Perch Lake.
The site is designed to “permanently contain and isolate up to 1,000,000 cubic metres (m3) of solid low-level radioactive waste” within specially engineered liners and covers.
But KFN was one of two groups to file applications shortly after the CNSC decision requesting a judicial review by the Federal Court of Canada.
KFN says the commission’s decision was made “in a manner that is inconsistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” (UNDRIP) and “in breach of the (government’s) duty to consult.”
“The risk of harm from the proposed NSDF is not only a First Nations issue, it also affects all individuals, animals, plants, and waters in the vicinity,” KFN Chief Lance Haymond said at the time.
“We are doing this on behalf of our People and all Canadians who depend on the Ottawa River as their drinking water source”…
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