Radioactive Steam Generator Shipments Put the Great Lakes and Global Consumer Products at Risk

Radioactive Steam Generator Shipments Put the Great Lakes and Global Consumer Products at Risk
from the Eagle Watch #45

Though I smile to see many recognizable signatures on the list of individuals and groups, it seems there could be far more. You can contact the contact people named below to add your name. It isn't too late. Hopefully, our outcry will nip this, yet another mad plan, to ship nuclear waste across the pond and then put it into consumer products in the bud.

Kittoh

Radioactive Steam Generator Shipments Put the Great Lakes and Global Consumer Products at Risk
From: mkeeganj@comcast.net
Date: Wed, May 12, 2010 6:01 pm
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Priority: Normal
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Dear Signatories,

Please forward to media sources


For Immediate Release:
Wednesday May 12th, 2010

Contacts:
Kay Cumbow, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination @ (810)
346-4513 or

kcumbow@greatlakes.net
Diane ‘Arrigo, Nuclear Information and Resource Service @ (301) 270-6477
Ext. 16, or

dianed@nirs.org
Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility @ (514)
839-7214 or

ccnr@web.ca
Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear @ (240) 462-3216 or

kevin@beyondnuclear.org
Michael Keegan, Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes @ (734) 770-1441
or

mkeeganj@comcast.net

Radioactive Steam Generator Shipments Put the Great
Lakes and Global Consumer Products at Risk

Upwards of 50 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and groups from a
dozen nations,
and over 150 individuals throughout and beyond the Great Lakes and St.
Lawrence
Seaway have signed onto a resolution (pasted below) opposing Bruce
Power's plan to
transport radioactively contaminated equipment through the Great Lakes,
along the St.
Lawrence River, across the Atlantic Ocean and into the Baltic Sea to
Sweden for
melting
and release into the marketplace.

The resolution calls for:

(1) Opposition in principle to any shipment through the Great Lakes of
radioactive
waste or radioactively contaminated equipment from the decommissioning,
refurbishment, or routine operation of nuclear reactors;

(2) The governments of Canada and the U.S.A., as well as indigenous and
sovereign First Nation and Tribal governments along the proposed shipment
routes,
as well as the governments of provinces and states adjacent to the Great
Lakes and
the St. Lawrence River to insist that the shipment of old nuclear steam
generators
through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River not be allowed to take
place;

(3) The governments to recognize radioactive steam generators as nuclear
waste;
they have always been and should be regarded as radioactive waste i.e.
not
deliberately dispersed into consumer goods or workplaces.

(4) These authorities to declare that radioactive wastes and
radioactively
contaminated equipment from decommissioning, replacement or routine
operation
of nuclear power reactors, shall not be allowed to be shipped through the
Great
Lakes or the St. Lawrence River.

- More -
This fall (2010), 16 enormous radioactive steam generators from the Bruce
nuclear
power
complex on Lake Huron are scheduled to move to the Studsvik radioactive
melter in
Sweden. Each 100 tonne metal vessel has 5000 highly radioactive pipes
inside. The goal
should be to isolate the hot pipes - not dispense radioactivity into
daily-use items
in the
marketplace. To save money, Bruce Power plans to melt the hot metal down
in Sweden,
where most of it would be sold into everyday commerce.

The Studsvik plant in Sweden has signed a contract with Bruce Power that
would
result in
as much as 90 % of the radioactive metal being released into the
marketplace for use
in
commercial and everyday household products. The European Commission’s
EURATOM
Recommendation RP 89 allows measurable amounts of plutonium, cesium-137,
cobalt-60,
enriched uranium, tritium, and other radioactive contaminants to be
present in
metals that
are "free-released" to the open market, 1 but this practice has
been largely stopped
in the
U.S. despite repeated industry and government efforts. US regulations do
not allow
release of radioactive metal into the free market, but metal that is
released in
Sweden can
make its way into the international metal supply, if not stopped.

Studsvik’s processes for treating the wastes are reportedly adding to
the
radioactive
contamination of the Baltic Sea, and allow radioactive contamination into
metals
released
for unrestricted use to the global markets.

"The commercial metal industry, a leader in recycling, should not be
burdened and
contaminated with radioactive scrap from the nuclear industry," said
Diane D’Arrigo,
Radioactive Waste Project Director of Nuclear Information and Resource
Service. "We
need to prevent the global shipments, melting and mixing of massive
radioactive
nuclear
power machinery into zippers, cookware, baby toys and more," she
said.

This year’s shipment of 16 radioactive steam generators would be the
first of two
planned
by Bruce Power. Later, another 16 radioactive steam generators would be
shipped, if
Bruce Power has its way. The contract with Studsvik covers a total of 32
steam
generators
from Bruce. The radioactive hulks would first be trucked to Owen Sound,
Ontario and
shipped from there. Owen Sound is located on Georgian Bay, a part of Lake
Huron.

"To allow these shipments to go ahead will set a terrible precedent,
whereby more and
more radioactive waste will be shipped through the Great Lakes in future,
threatening
inevitable and irreversible radioactive contamination of the largest
fresh water
system in
the world," said Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for
Nuclear
Responsibility.
"And for what purpose? To pollute our stock of recycled metals with
radioactive wastes
from the nuclear industry? This plan must be nipped in the bud," he
said.

"It is irresponsible to allow these waste shipments to go through
the Great Lakes
and the
St. Lawrence Seaway," said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear.
"Eighteen months ago, two
nuclear turbines weighing 105 tonnes each were dropped into St. John’s
Harbour in
New

1 [1] Waste Volume Reduction at Studsvik AB Stenmark, January 2010

http://www.winsverige.se/arsmotet_2009/2010 -
01%20Studsvik%20Waste%20Treatment.pdf
-
01%20Studsvik%20Waste%20Treatment.pdf

- More -
Brunswick. If these radioactive steam generators are dropped, there’s
enough
contamination inside each one to pollute for thousands of years. Citizens
should
write to
authorities at the municipal, regional, state, provincial, national, and
international levels to
oppose these shipments."

The resolution is posted at:

http://www.nirs.org/radwaste/glresradsteamgen.pdf
Please find attached the resolution below, followed by signatories.

Resolution to Stop Shipment of Radioactive Steam Generators on the Great
Lakes

WHEREAS Bruce Power is engaged in a multibillion dollar refurbishment
project
involving
several of the eight Bruce nuclear reactors sited on Lake Huron;

WHEREAS this refurbishment project involves the removal and replacement
of thousands
of corroded and radioactively contaminated tubes and pipes in the primary
cooling
circuits
of the affected reactors, which will remain on-site as radioactive
wastes;

WHEREAS the refurbishment also involves the removal and replacement of 32
huge
radioactive steam generators, each weighing approximately 100 tonnes,
each about the
size of a school bus, and each containing thousands of radioactively
contaminated
pipes
which carried primary coolant from the core of the nuclear reactor;

WHEREAS the pipes inside the old steam generators are contaminated with
radioactive
fission products, such as cobalt-60 and cesium-137, with radioactive
actinides, such
as
plutonium, americium, and curium, and with radioactive activation
products, such as
tritium
(hydrogen-3) and carbon-14;

WHEREAS the radioactive contaminants inside the old steam generators
include
alphaemitters,
beta- emitters and gamma-emitters, some of which have half-lives measured
in
decades, centuries or even millennia;

WHEREAS the decontamination efforts carried out by Bruce Power have not
succeeded in
removing all radioactive contamination from these old steam generators;

WHEREAS Bruce Power has signed a contract with the Studsvik company in
Sweden to
receive and dismantle 32 of these old radioactive steam generators from
the Bruce
Nuclear Complex, to recycle as much of the less radioactive metal as
possible for
commercial use as scrap metal (up to 90 percent of the total metal in the
steam
generators), and to return the more radioactive portions to Bruce Power
to be stored
as
radioactive waste;

- More -

WHEREAS the recycling of radioactive materials from nuclear reactors as
scrap metal
for
commercial use should not be countenanced or encouraged;

WHEREAS Bruce Power has announced that it intends to ship the old steam
generators
through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River, and across the
Atlantic Ocean to
Studsvik in Sweden;

WHEREAS Studsvik intends to return the most radioactive portions back to
Bruce Power,
presumably following the same route through the St. Lawrence River and
the Great
Lakes;

WHEREAS shipping radioactive waste through the Great Lakes is a practice
which should
be not be allowed because of the potential for long-lived radioactive
contamination;

WHEREAS the stigma attached to shipments of radioactive waste materials
will affect
people's peace of mind and property values along the transportation
route,
especially if an
accident involving those shipments were to occur;

WHEREAS the shipment of old steam generators through the Great Lakes will
set a
dangerous precedent for other shipments of radioactive waste materials in
future;

WHEREAS the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River system together
comprise close
to 20% of the world's surface freshwater; and are a source of drinking
water for
over 40
million people and a $4 billion fisheries; and which support an amazingly
diverse and
fragile ecosystem;

WHEREAS the Great Lakes are currently compromised by radioactive
contaminations
through routine emissions and accidental releases at upwards of 50
nuclear sites. This
radioactive burden continues to this day and should not be compounded and
endorsed by
radioactive steam generator shipments.

WHEREAS Bruce Power¹s plan for transporting radioactive steam generators
to Sweden
has never come under public scrutiny, either by citizens and local
governments along
the
trucking and shipping routes, or by provincial, state or national
governments -
including
indigenous and sovereign First Nation and Tribal governments - along the
waterways of
the proposed Great Lakes/St.-Lawrence route, or by international bodies
such as the
International Joint Commission;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations listed above and below:
(1) are opposed in principle to any shipment through the Great Lakes of
radioactive
waste
or radioactively contaminated equipment from the decommissioning,
refurbishment, or
routine operation of nuclear reactors;

(2) urge the governments of Canada and the U.S.A., as well as indigenous
and sovereign
First Nation and Tribal governments along the proposed shipment routes,
as well as the
governments of provinces and states adjacent to the Great Lakes and the
St. Lawrence
River, to insist that the shipment of old nuclear steam generators
through the Great
Lakes
and the St. Lawrence River not be allowed to take place;

- More -
(3) urge the governments to recognize used nuclear steam generators as
radioactive
waste; they have always been regarded as radioactive waste and should
always be
regarded as radioactive waste.

(4) urge that these authorities declare that radioactive wastes and
radioactively
contaminated equipment from decommissioned or refurbished nuclear
reactors, or from
routine operation of nuclear reactors, shall not be allowed to be shipped
through
the Great
Lakes or the St. Lawrence River.

Signatories:
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) signing to stop shipment of
radioactive
steam generators from the Bruce nuclear complex:

*** Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility - Montreal, Quebec,
Canada *** Tri
City
Action for Peace - Saginaw, Michigan, USA *** Nuclear Information and
Resource Service
- Takoma Park, Maryland, USA *** Port Hope Health Concerns Committee -
Port Hope,
Ontario, Canada *** Beyond Nuclear - Takoma Park, Maryland, USA *** Nuke
Watch -
Luck, Wisconsin, USA *** Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical
Contamination - Lake,
Michigan, USA *** Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force - Las Vegas, Nevada,
USA *** Inter-
Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-operative - Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan,
Canada *** Sustainable Energy Watch - Paris, France *** Wisconsin
Resource Protection
Council - La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA *** Western North Carolina Physicians
for Social
Responsibility - Ashville, North Carolina, USA *** GE Stockholders
Alliance - Tucson,
Arizona, USA *** Nuclear Energy Information Service - Evanston, Illinois,
USA ***
BURNT
- Nashville, Tennessee, USA *** Citizens to End Nuclear Dumping in
Tennessee -
Tennessee, USA *** Concerned Citizens of Manitoba - Manitoba, Canada ***
Toronto
Raging Grannies - Toronto, Ontario, Canada *** Physicians for Global
Survival Canada -
Saskatchewan, Canada *** Lone Tree Council - Midland, Michigan, USA ***
Coalition
for a
Nuclear-Free Great Lakes - Monroe, Michigan, USA *** Don't Waste Michigan
- Holland,
Michigan, USA *** North America Water Office - Lake Elmo, Minnesota, USA
*** Voices
for
Earth Justice - Southfield, Michigan, USA *** Citizens Environmental
Alliance -
Windsor,
Ontario, Canada *** Home for Peace & Justice - Saginaw, Michigan, USA
*** Citizens
Resistance at Fermi Two - Monroe, Michigan, USA *** Indonesian
Antinuclear Society /
MANUSIA - Jakarta, Indonesia *** Indonesian Green Union / SareKal Hijau
Indonesia -
Jakarta, Indonesia *** Canadian Association of Physicians for the
Environment -
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada *** Sept - Iles sans Uranium / SISUR - Quebec, Canada ***
Folkkamppanjen mot Karnkraft Karnvapen - Stockholm, Sweden *** Reseau
"Sortir du
Nucleaire" / French Nuclear Phaseout Network - France *** Women
Against Nuclear
Power -Finland *** Greenspiration - Toronto, Ontario, Canada *** Ottawa
Council of
Women - Ottawa, Quebec, Canada *** Women for Peace - Helsinki, Finland
*** Terra
Foundation - San Luis Obispo, California, USA *** Mothers for Peace
Action Committee -
San Luis Obispo, California, USA *** Cumberland Countians for Peace &
Justice -
Pleasant Hill, Tennessee, USA *** Dokis First Nation - Ontario, Canada
*** Coalition
for a
Nuclear-Free Alberta - Peace River, Alberta, Canada *** Citizens for
Renewable
Energy -
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada *** Citizens Against Nuclear Development -
Grimshaw,
Alberta, Canada *** Nuclear Watch South - Savannah, Georgia, USA ***
Flemish Centre
- More -
for Indigenous People - Sint Niklass, Belgium *** Science for Peace -
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada *** Baltic Sea Region Radioactivity Watch - Denmark *** Nipissing
First
Nation -
Garden Village, Ontario, Canada *** Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve
No. 26 -
Wikwemikong, Ontario, Canada *** Toledo Coalition for Safe Energy -
Toledo, Ohio, USA
*** Provincial Council of Women of Ontario, Ridgeville, Ontario, Canada
*** West
Athabasca Bioregional Society, Hinton, Alberta, Canada ***

Individuals signing to stop shipment of radioactive steam generators from
Bruce
nuclear complex:

Eva Selin Lindgren, Parliamentarian, Sweden * Mike Bradley, Mayor,
Sarnia, ON, Canada
* Rebekah Warren, Michigan State Representative, MI U.S. A. * Sarah
Roberts, Michigan
State Representative, MI, U.S.A. *Dr. William R. Adamson, Saskatoon, SK,
Canada *
Janis Alton, Mississauga, ON, Canada * Thanasis Anapolitanos, Chairman of
the
Mediterranean Anti-Nuclear Watch, Rhodes, Greece * Barbara Antonoplos,
Atlanta, GA,
USA * Olga Athaniti - actor, Vice President of the Mediterranean Nuclear
Watch,
(MANW),
Athens, Greece * Caryle Barr, Calgary, AB, Canada * Lorraine Beardsworth,
Prince
Albert,
SK, Canada * Joan Bell Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Laurienne Bernard-Mazure
Le Mont,
France * Kathy Berry, Director Responsible Community Network, Port Huron,
MI, USA *
Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Yardley, PA, USA * Sylvie Berube, Victor Guerette,
Peace River,
AB,
Canada * Jake Binnema, Brownvale, AB, Canada * Angela Bischoff, Toronto,
ON, Canada
* Sherry and Charles Blake, Bay Tree, AB, Canada * Michelle Blanchette,
Prince Albert,
SK, Canada * Dr. Stan R. Blecher MD, Port Hope, ON, Canada * Eugene
Bourgeois,
Inverhuron, ON, Canada * Brenda Brochu, Peace River, AB, Canada * Darlene
Buckingham, Tory Hill, ON, Canada * Marion Burton, Keene, ON, Canada *
Lisa Christie,
Calgary, AB, Canada * Donald B. Clark, Pleasant Hill, TN, USA * Rick
Closs,
Shellbrook,
SK, Canada * Romain Collaire, Rennes, Brittany, France * Robin Comolli,
Kingston, ON,
Canada * K.P. Connolly, Kingston, ON, Canada * Elaine Cooper, Columbia,
SC, USA *
Derek Coronado, Windsor, ON, Canada * Rick Coronado, Windsor, ON, Canada
* Pat
Coulter, Manning, AB, Canada * Ron Cox, Member, Green Party of
Saskatchewan,
Lloydminster, SK, Canada * Karen Culley, Fenton, MI, USA * Marci R.
Culley, Ph.D
Atlanta, GA, USA * Kay Cumbow Brown City, MI, USA * Bill Curry, Wynyard,
SK, Canada *
Alistair Danhieux, St Amand en Puisaye, Nievre, France * Arthur Davis,
Toronto, ON,
Canada * Dave Dempsey, Rosemount, MN, USA * Judith Deutsch, Toronto, ON,
Canada *
Lorna Devan, Peterborough, ON, Canada * Dale Dewar, MD, CCFP, Wynyard,
SK,
Canada * Charles F. Dildine, St. Clair, MI, USA * Neil and Sharon Dobson,
Grande
Prairie,
AB, Canada * Anabel and David Dwyer, Mackinaw City, MI, USA * Paul J.
Eisenbarth, MD,
Hanover, ON, Canada * Wolfe Erlichman, Godfrey, ON, Canada * Marc Fafard,
Moisie,
Quebec, Canada * Diana Fernlund, Oviken, Sweden * Bobbi Filanda, Port
Huron, MI, USA
* Ryan Filanda, Astoria, NY, USA * Harold Fisher, Hull (Gat.) QC, Canada
* Goran
Folin,
Nacka, Sweden * Molly Forsythe, McDonald's Corners, ON, Canada * Peter J.
Gauthier,
Shawville, QC Canada * Catherine Gibson, Ralph Brooks, Regina, SK, Canada
* Odile
Girard, France * Terry Gill, Greenwood Township, MI, USA * Dorothy Goldin
Rosenberg,
MES, PhD, University Lecturer in Ecosystem Health, OISE/UT Toronto, ON,
Canada *
Elaine Grass, Regina, SK, Canada * Patrick Groulx, Etobicoke, ON, Canada
* Janet
Stoody, Fort Qu'Appelle, SK., Canada * Jim Harding, Fort Qu'Appelle SK,
Canada * Dagan
Harding, Regina, SK, Canada * Joel Harding, Vancouver, BC, Canada * Kate
Harries,
Elmvale, ON, Canada * Patti Hartnagel, Edmonton, AB, Canada * Patrick
Herron, Port

- More -
Huron, MI, USA * Ed Hess, Marilyn Biernot-Hess, Goodells, MI, USA * Bill
and Alice
Hirt,
Holland, MI, USA* Ward Hodge, Midland, MI, USA * Bonnie Hood, Peace
River, Alberta,
Canada * Chris Hooymans, Calgary, AB, Canada * David Huntley, Burnaby,
BC, Canada *
Carol Izant, Southfield, MI, USA * Therese Jelinski, Prince Albert, SK,
Canada * Jack
Jensen, Prince Albert, SK, Canada * Cecile Joly Caen, Normandy, France *
Catherine
Kaye, Fraserville, ON, Canada * Betty Kruse, Peace River, AB, Canada *
Teresa
Kurtzhall,
Elk, WA, USA * Kurylowich, Joe, Grimshaw, AB, Canada * Pierre Lambert,
St-Mathieu-du-
Parc, Quebec, Canada * Peggy Land, Perth, ON, Canada * Jean-Yvon Landrac,
Chantepie, Bretagne, France * Lena Langolf, Seattle, WA, USA * Mary Lou
Langolf, Port
Huron, MI, USA * Andre Lariviere St.-Didier/Doulon, Auvergne, France *
Lea Launokari,
Kirkkonummi, Finland * Wanda Laurin, Peace River, AB, Canada * Susanne
Lauten,
Newmarket, ON, Canada * Eia Liljegren-Palmaer Skradene, Nytomt, Sweden *
Eva
Linderoth, Uppsala, Sweden * Anne Lindsey, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada *
Trudi Keillor,
Berwyn, AB, Canada * Wayne MacDonald, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * Sue
Machetti, Mt.
Horeb, WI, USA * Sini Maury Milton, ON, Canada * Ed McArdle, Melvindale,
MI, USA *
Nicole Massoulier, France / Japan * Joan McCoy, Saginaw, MI, USA * Pat
McNamara,
Peace River, Alberta, Canada * Michael and Andrea McCarthy, Port Huron,
MI, USA *
Byron Millette, Hamilton ON, Chippawas of Nawash Unceded First Nation *
Daniel & Luiza
Mullen,Trenton, ON, Canada * Linda Murphy, Saskatoon, SK, Canada *
Elizabeth F.
Nanticoke, Acting Director, Department of the Environment, Mohawk Council
of
Akwesasne, Mohawk Nation * Kent Newman, Ypsilanti, MI, USA * Mary
Nokleby, Calgary,
AB, Canada * Elaine Nowak-Wheeler, Blueberry Mountain, AB, Canada *
Marcella
Pedersen, Cut Knife, SK, Canada * James V. Penna, Saskatoon, SK, Canada *
Phillip
Penna, North Bay, ON, Canada * Diane Plowman, Peace River, AB, Canada *
Clare
Powell, Regina, SK, Canada * Carol Ray, Fontana, CA, USA * Reynold
Reimer, Calgary,
AB, Canada * Charlene Rogers, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada * Scott
Royder, Republic,
WA, USA * Nicholas Rowe and Debra Rowe, Moonstone, ON, Canada * Floyd
Rudmin,
Kingston, ON, Canada * Adele Boucher Rymhs, Peace River, Alberta, Canada
* Dan
Rudka, Durham Region, ON, Canada * Sally Schemanski, Dearborn, MI, USA *
Sally
Shaw, Gill, MA, USA *Tim Seitz, Kingston, ON, Canada * Soubeyran,
Vincent,
Luxembourg, Luxembourg * Judith Anne Smith, Spruce Pine, North Carolina,
USA * Lee
Sprague, Grand Rapids, MI, USA * Bob Stuart, Spiritwood, SK, Canada *
Jude Thompson,
Saginaw, MI, USA * George & Marlene Truhn, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada
* Kathryn
Truhn, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada * Jennifer Tsun, McDonalds Corners, ON,
Unceded
Sovereign Haudenosaunee/Nishnaabe Territory * Richard Tyssen, Cobourg,
ON, Canada
* Cathy Vakil Kingston, ON, Canada * Nayda Veeman, Saskatoon SK, Canada *
G.A.
Varkonyi, Saskatoon, SK, Canada * David and Lori Verton, Wolfe Island,
ON, Canada *
Marc Wieser and Nicholas Kemball, Montreal, Quebec, Canada * Laura Sue
Wilansky,
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA * Denise Wilson, Grande Prairie, AB, Canada *
Craig
Wonnacott, Calgary, AB, Canada * Wayne Adams, Calgary, AB, Canada. *
Charly Hulten,
Kalmar, Sweden * Christian Sweningsen, Sweden * Huguette Ropchan,
Grimshaw, AB,
Canada*