DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Algonquins" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Algonquins</span></a> say proposed <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearWaste" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearWaste</span></a> site near <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OttawaRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OttawaRiver</span></a> prioritizes money over safety </p><p>By Tom Fennario, Oct 18, 2024</p><p>"Verna Polson steps out of the boat and onto the sand bar of Pointe aux Baptêmes. She walks a few feet before turning back towards the water, where the August morning light shimmers off the waves.</p><p>"There she makes a tobacco offering to the Ottawa River. Except for her, this waterway that divides modern-day Quebec and Ontario is known by its original Algonquin name: Kichi-Sìbì.</p><p>"The Great River.</p><p>"'Kichi-Sìbì is a place where our ancestors used to travel. That was their highway,' explains Polson. 'This is how they kept the land, protected from many different nations.</p><p>"Polson grew up near the Kichi-Sìbì in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TemiskamingFirstNation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TemiskamingFirstNation</span></a>, about 300 kilometers north of here. On this day, she finds herself downstream to take in not only the beach of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PointeAuxBapt%C3%AAmes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PointeAuxBaptêmes</span></a> but also the industrial smokestacks of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ChalkRiverLaboratories" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ChalkRiverLaboratories</span></a>. It sits less than a kilometre upstream from where Polson offered her tobacco- the site sticks out in contrast to the rolling hills and blue waters of the Kichi-Sìbì.</p><p>"This place is known as the cradle of the Canadian <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/nuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nuclear</span></a> industry.</p><p>"'I think about the water, I think about the animals and think about future generations and what they’re going to be left with,' says Polson. 'And that’s something I don’t want to leave my granddaughter and my great-grandchildren as something to deal with this nuclear waste.'</p><p>"Established in 1944 about 200 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, Chalk River Laboratories is famous for research that led to the development of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CANDU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CANDU</span></a> (CANada Deuterium <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Uranium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Uranium</span></a>) reactor, one of the most efficient and safe nuclear reactors ever created, according to officials in the industry.</p><p>"Researchers at Chalk River have gone on to win Nobel prizes, and for decades, it was a world leader in the creation of radioisotopes for fighting cancer.</p><p>"However, Chalk River also has a darker legacy which includes supplying fuel for American <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearWarheads" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearWarheads</span></a> and in 1952, being home to the world’s first <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearMeltdown" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearMeltdown</span></a>.</p><p>"But much has changed since then. Chalk River Laboratories has been absorbed into <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AtomicEnergyCanada" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AtomicEnergyCanada</span></a>, a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CrownCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CrownCorporation</span></a> that contracts out to a company called Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CNL" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CNL</span></a>) to operate it.</p><p>"CNL is currently in the midst of a government funded $1.2-billion facelift. But before it can be transformed into a state-of-the-art nuclear campus, nearly 80 years of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/radioactive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>radioactive</span></a> legacy waste must be addressed.</p><p>"In a statement, CNL says 'While this waste was stored according to the best practices and regulations at the time, standards have changed.'</p><p>"So the solution CNL is trying to get off the ground is called the Near Surface Disposal Facility (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NSDF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NSDF</span></a>).</p><p>"Others might call it a dump.</p><p>"'This facility will not bring great things to the water or the land,' says Polson, 'every one knows across <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TurtleIsland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TurtleIsland</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a>.'"</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/algonquins-say-proposed-nuclear-waste-site-near-ottawa-prioritizes-money-over-safety/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">aptnnews.ca/investigates/algon</span><span class="invisible">quins-say-proposed-nuclear-waste-site-near-ottawa-prioritizes-money-over-safety/</span></a> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NuclearWasteStorage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NuclearWasteStorage</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalRacism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalRacism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FirstNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FirstNations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Canada" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Canada</span></a></p>