We the Nuclear Free North

The scene is serene, beautiful and clean – but at risk of eons of contamination. Our voices, together, can prevent this.

Ally with us – learn how!

Sign the Federal e-Petition! Deadline, May 3

Plans are being made and studies conducted into burying highly radioactive nuclear fuel waste in the heart of Northwestern Ontario – on Treaty #3 lands – in “Sunset Country”. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) will make their siting decision in Fall 2024.

1726977600

days

hours minutes seconds

until

Fall 2024:
NWMO’s stated deadline for their siting decision

Sign the Federal e-Petition!

Open until May 3, 2024
e-Petition to Government of Canada
“Consent of All Along Transportation Route and Downstream”

Resolution: “We, the undersigned, citizens, residents and Indigenous peoples of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to require the Nuclear Waste Management Organization to demonstrate that it has the consent of residents and communities, including First Nations and Treaty Organizations, along the transportation route and in the region of and downstream of the candidate repository site(s) before selecting a site.”
Please sign! https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4852

See our past petitions on our Petitions webpage.

Would Your Group Like More Information?

Book a Presentation

You can request volunteers from We the Nuclear Free North to do a presentation (Zoom or in-person) for your private or public group. Get in touch!

Email: nuclearfreenorth@gmail.com , or call: 1-855-225-8055 (toll free).

Tataganabiwiin

Our alliance is honoured to have received the name Tataganabiwiin: looking far ahead into the future. Learn about who we are, and the origin and meaning of this name, which may be used by all people working together to protect Aki (Mother Earth).

Who we are

We the Nuclear Free North is an alliance of people and groups opposed to transporting, burying and abandoning all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste in Northwestern Ontario. Read more.

The issue

Canada’s nuclear industry makes up the members of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). The NWMO is studying the possibility of burying all of Canada’s nuclear fuel waste in one of two Ontario locations. One proposed location is just south of the TransCanada Highway, between Ignace and Dryden in NW Ontario. If the plan proceeds, an estimated 100,000 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear fuel waste would be shipped to the selected site, repackaged, buried, and abandoned by 2188. Learn more about the nuclear waste abandonment issue.

You can help

Spread the word about these “disposal” plans. Speak to your elected representatives. Write your local paper. Make a donation to our efforts. Oppose the NWMO loudly. Contact We the Nuclear Free North – we’ll work together.

Our primary concerns

Informed consent, or “willingness”.
How is consent to be defined? What level of consent is needed? Who should be consulted?
Lack of scientific evidence for safety of burial.
The stakes are high – can we experiment? A mistake could contaminate our waterways for hundreds of thousands of years.
Dangers of transportation and repackaging.
Dangerous waste will be transported up to 2,517 km, and the highly radioactive and hazardous material unpacked and repackaged on-site.

We believe that responsible stewardship of these wastes close to the sites of their production is the best management alternative.

How am I at risk?

Those along the transport routes are at risk from both incidental gamma ray exposure and consequences of container breach from collisions

Radioactive fuel waste will be repackaged on-site, an extremely risky procedure that could release radioactive material on the surface, where it could move into local waterways

Radioactive fuel waste will be buried in the bedrock (for the first time in the world) – if containment fails, radioactive material could be released into NW Ontario watersheds, eventually reaching Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay

Local residents are concerned

“The whole thing will fail. It might take a thousand years, but it will fail. No matter what kind of a container, no matter how solid that container you put into the ground, sooner or later it will rot and it will break – and whatever is in it will spread.”

Elder Roy Ignace
Resident of Ignace, Ontario

Take-aways

The NWMO is not a public agency – it is a group of nuclear power companies
There are no operational deep geological repositories (DGRs) for nuclear fuel waste anywhere in the world
The highly radioactive wastes will be transported by truck or rail for thousands of kilometres
There is no safe level of exposure to radiation
Certain radioactive components of nuclear waste are water soluble