Last day of voting for nuclear waste referendum

The clock is ticking down on the most important vote in South Bruce’s history.

“I'm hoping that there'll be a large showing at the polls, and I'm hoping that the community are the ones that decide this. Should that not happen, council is prepared to make the decision,” said Municipality of South Bruce Mayor, Mark Goetz.

At last count, 4,438 South Bruce residents are on the voter’s list. They will decide whether they want the community of 5,800 to become the permanent home to Canada’s used nuclear fuel by answering the following question: ‘Are you in favour of the Municipality of South Bruce declaring South Bruce to be a willing host for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s proposed Deep Geological Repository (DGR)?’

50% of voters must cast a ballot to make the referendum binding. If they don’t, South Bruce council will decide if the community is willing to host 6.1 million used nuclear fuel bundles, which remain radioactive for more than a million years, and would be hosted in an underground facility encompassing six square kilometres north of Teeswater.

“The rock itself provides coverage, it provides safety, it provides a container for a million years, and no engineered solution can do that. The rock ultimately is the engineered solution for a million years,” said Fred Kuntz, Nuclear Waste Management Organization, Spokesperson.

The radioactive material in question is currently stored at nuclear stations across the country, but the Nuclear Waste Management Organization has spent the past twenty years looking for a permanent home for Canada’s used nuclear fuel.

More than 20 communities expressed interest in hosting the $26 billion project at one point, but only the Municipality of South Bruce, and Township of Ignace in Northern Ontario remain in consideration as possible host communities.

“All they're trying to do is stick it in a hole and walk away from it. They say it's an undisturbed geological formation, but as soon as they dig into it, it's not undisturbed,” said Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.

If South Bruce votes yes, then the Nuclear Waste Management Organization(NWMO) said they will decide which community they want to host the project before the end of 2024. If South Bruce residents vote no, South Bruce will no longer be in the running for the project.

Earlier this year, the Municipality of South Bruce signed a hosting agreement with the NWMO that would see the community paid $418 million over the next 138 years if they are selected to host the project.

Those concerned about the proposed project call it “an experiment” and “dangerous.” Those in favour call it “a once in a lifetime economic opportunity.”

“I know there are people very strongly against it, and there are people very strongly for it, and there has been some tension there. But, I think for the majority of people, it hasn't really been this huge, divisive thing that it's been laid out to be,” said Teeswater resident, Sheila Whytock.

Voting on South Bruce’s nuclear waste referendum closes at 8:00 p.m. tonight. Results are expected to be shared within an hour of polls closing.

For the latest, follow www.ctvnewslondon.ca.