Another group has announced its opposition to the anticipated shipments of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from a Canadian laboratory to the Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C.
The Iroquois Caucus, a Canada-based coalition of seven First Nation communities, said in a prepared statement Wednesday it is “unanimously condemning a plan to truck 23,000 liters of highly radioactive liquid from Chalk River, Ontario across the International border to the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, using public roads and bridges.”
That is about 6,000 gallons of weapon-grade uranium. The route chosen by the U.S. Energy Department, and approved by federal regulators, begins at the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. facility in Ontario, then goes over the Peace Bridge and through western New York on its way south to SRS.
The caucus and other groups say the shipment of liquid material across international borders presents a significant risk. “This unprecedented action could have a devastating impact on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River ecosystem,” the caucus stated. “This ecosystem provides drinking water for an estimated 40 million people on both sides of the border.”
Caucus member Don Maracle wrote that the group will “not stand idly by. The seven communities of the Iroquois Caucus stand together in the protection of Mother Earth.”
Despite the hard position, plans to receive the material are likely formulating in the U.S. following a recent court decision.
A federal judge ruled on Feb. 2 against a lawsuit filed by several environmental organizations that sought to force the Department of Energy to produce a new environmental impact statement for shipments of HEU from Canada to the Savannah River Site. The sides agreed that shipments would begin no earlier than Feb. 17 while the lawsuit was decided.
The shipments to SRS are covered by a 2010 agreement between then-U.S. President Barack Obama and then-Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for repatriation of the U.S.-origin HEU. Once at SRS, the material will be downblended and sent to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) where it will be used as reactor fuel.
Separately, a group of North Carolina environmental organizations in January sent a letter urging Gov. Roy Cooper to oppose the transport route through the state.
