South Bruce Council unanimously approves nuclear waste hosting agreement

On Wednesday, councillors with the Municipality of South Bruce voted on a nuclear waste hosting agreement that could change the course of their community forever.

South Bruce Council unanimously agreed to sign a hosting agreement with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization on Wednesday night. 

With little deliberation, council members signed an agreement at a special council meeting that lays the ground work for what South Bruce would expect to see if they ended up being selected to host Canada’s first permanent nuclear waste facility.

Council - 1 May 2024 - Agenda by CTV News on Scribd

“It’s something I feel like we’ve been waiting for, for a long time. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time, and it’s exciting to see what could potentially be in store,” said South Bruce resident, and founder of South Bruce Proud-Willing to Listen, Sheila Whytock.

The Municipality of South Bruce and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) have spent months working on a hosting agreement that would see the municipality of 5,800 residents, paid $418 million to host Canada’s first permanent nuclear waste facility.

The proposed Deep Geological Repository would house 5.6 million used nuclear fuel bundles, buried 600 metres underground in a series of tunnels spanning 1,500 acres of farmers fields, north of Teeswater.

The project is expected to span nearly 140 years, followed by decommissioning.

“To be honest, what difference does anybody’s thoughts make now? This entire process has included secret land deals and closed meetings. The council and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization have never sought our input. They completely ignore all of our concerns,” said Michelle Stein, South Bruce resident, and co-founder of No Nuclear Waste-Protect our Waterways.

Whytock is amongst those who are excited about the project’s potential. A project worth $26 billion, that would add more than 700 jobs to the community, and is forecast to nearly double South Bruce’s annual Gross Domestic Product to $680 million.

Sign opposing plans to build a facility to house Canada’s used nuclear fuel near Teeswater, seen on April 4, 2024. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“We’ve just recently seen the medical centre open up in town. It would be really nice to see some more helpful and encouraging things happen around here, and I think this might be a good vehicle to do it,” said Whytock.

Stein, who lives near the proposed project site, said she sees many red flags in the hosting agreement. Amongst them, a clause that states that if South Bruce declares itself a “willing host” to Canada’s most radioactive waste, they must not, “Engage in any action that could frustrate, delay or interfere with or stop the NWMO from proceeding with the project.”

“If this is such a great project for the community, why does it appear to be what looks like a gag clause in it,” saids Stein.

This fall, from Oct. 21 to 28, South Bruce residents will vote on whether they want to house Canada’s used nuclear fuel forever, or not.

As long as 50 per cent of residents cast a ballot, the vote will be binding.

“This is probably going to be town changing, probably no matter which way the vote goes, it’ll be town changing,” added Whytock.