Communicating Risk to a Concerned Public in Historic Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) Projects
- Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office, Ontario (Canada)
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office (LLRWMO) was established in 1982 to carry out federal government responsibility for historic low-level radioactive waste across Canada. Funded through Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and administered by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the LLRWMO has conducted waste characterization, delineation and remediation projects in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Alberta and Ontario. Most (95%) of the historic low-level radioactive wastes for which the LLRWMO assumes responsibility are located in and around Port Hope, Ontario, the site of the refining operations of the former federal Crown Corporation, Eldorado Nuclear. Additional contamination is connected to the transportation of the ore along a route extending from Port Radium on Great Bear Lake (Northwest Territories) to Port Hope, a Lake Ontario community of 16,000 in south/central Ontario. This paper will focus on the successful strategies employed by the LLRWMO over the past 25 years to find solutions to the problems posed by the historic waste. Risks associated with each project must be defined prior to initiating any communication plan. Using this approach, the LLRWMO has addressed socio-economic, health and well being and environmental risks through strategies that embrace proactive communications and full public involvement. Recognizing the diversity of the Canadian communities affected by the historic waste, the LLRWMO has tailored its consultation programs both to the type of solutions proposed and to the character of the communities (i.e. urban, First Nation, rural etc.). In Port Hope, community solutions are being realized through a Legal Agreement negotiated by the affected communities and the federal government in 2000 and an intensive Environmental Assessment process under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, which is expected to reach completion early in 2007. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21294757
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-09-WM-07428; TRN: US10V0290040947
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM'07: 2007 Waste Management Symposium - Global Accomplishments in Environmental and Radioactive Waste Management: Education and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Waste Management Professionals, Tucson, AZ (United States), 25 Feb - 1 Mar 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 6 refs
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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