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Page &, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, June 15, 1983 by DAVID FOSTER Like most environ- mental questions, nu- clear waste disposal is a complex and some- times confusing issue. The need for safe, « permanent nuclear waste disposal is something we all recognize regardless of our opinions on nuclear energy. Nuclear wastes like many industrial and chemical wastes, are extremely toxic. If we cannot find a safe way of getting rid of these wastes, we've got a children WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Norrie of Parry Sound and Mr. & Mrs. Roy Mills of Schreiber wish to announce the marriage of their Cindy Donald The wedding will take place on June 25, 1983 in Parry Sound, Ontario. very big problem on our hands. Unlike most chemical wastes the toxicity of nuclear wastes decreases with time. In future columns we will take a close look at many of the factors involved, but today, let's look at where these wastes come from and what's being done to look after them. While there are dif- ferent types of radio- active waste produc- ed by the nuclear in- dustry, most people are concerned about the fuel wastes from nuclear reactors. The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station near Toronto was the first large Canadian nuclear plant. Pickering has four operating react- ors and four more un- der construction. Every day, each of these reactors pro- ducts about 12 bun- dies of spent fuel. A fuel bundle is 19% inches long, 4 inches in diameter, and weighs 55 pounds. To date about 5,000 tonnes of fuel waste have been produced by all nuclear plants to- gether, and this total will increase year by year as the reactors continue to operate. A used fuel bun- die contains a variety of different radioact- ive materials. Some of these materials -- re- main radioactive for only a few days or weeks, others for tens of thousands of years. of Canada's. BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT Perry and Terri are pleased to announce the safe arrival of their son James Alexander born on May 31, 1983, weighing in at a healthy 8 Ibs. 3 oz. Proud grandparents are Mr. & Mrs. Merton Burrows of Terrace Bay and Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Bond of Little Current, Ontario. WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT Mr. Edward St. Denis is pleased to announce the forth coming marriage of his daughter LUCILLE MARY-ALICE TO GERALD AUSTIN son of Mr. of Mrs. Aubrey Boutilier of Terrace Bay. The marriage will take place on June 25, 1983 at St. Martins of Tours, Terrace Bay, Ontario. The bundles give off large amounts of ra- diation and must be carefully handled and stored at the power plant site. After being remov- ed from the reactor, used fuel bundles are placed in large water- filled basins resemb- ling swimming pools. The water stops the radiation given off by the bundles and ab- sorbs the heat which they continue to pro- duce for some time. These "swim- ming pools" can pro- vide temporary or in- terim storage for nuclear fuel wastes for more than 50 years. Unlike many aspects of nuclear power, experts agree that this type of inter- im storage is safe. But it does not provide a permanent disposal solution. Some people feel that the nuclear in- dustry has_ ignored the problem of per- manent nuclear waste disposal until very re- cently. To be fair, scientists began work- ing on this disposal question more than 25 years ago. However it wasn't until 1978 that a large disposal re- search program was started by the On- Solving the nuclear waste problem tario and Federal governments. This program ap- pointed Atomic Ener- gy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), a federal re- search company, to run the research pro- gram aimed at find- ing a permanent safe disposal pro- cess. Scientists involved in this work believe the best method is to bury nuclear waste deep within the rock of the Canadian Shield. This area has existed for literally billions of years. The Shield contains large masses of solid gran- ite rock called "plut- ons" which could prove to be the best areas for deep waste burial. : In order to find out whether this method of disposal will work, a great deal of re- search is necessary. Because the granite rocks being studied have no commercial value, little scientific study has been car- ried out on them in the past. Scientists must know if nuclear wastes could escape from deep within this rock, and if so, how this could occur. This research work has had to start from scratch. Scientists are adapting tools for the task of studying this kind of rock and new ways of analyzing how well nuclear wastes might be contained within them. : The job that these scientists face is large, and will re- quire careful step- by-step investigation over a period of many years. It is not expect- ed that a nuclear dis- posal site could be fully operational be- fore the turn of the century. Christmas in June Coming to Terrace Bay CASH & CARRY ONLY Multi-purpose room, Recreation Centre June 17, 18 and 19, 1983 | WATERBED FACTORY Complete Waterbeds from 4G" e Wholesale prices e Huge Savings e Liquidation Centre Hours: Thursday & Friday 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Up