Nuclear Watchdog Slams Provential Uranium Report

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Exploration, Mining, Marketing, & Acquisitions

Date posted: 08/26/15

Bertrand Marotte reports that the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) slammed a report by the Province and its environmental regulation agency for allegedly misleading Quebeckers and Canadians on the safety of uranium mining. In a damning letter to Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel, the chief executive officer of the CNSC, Michael Binder, says it is very troubling to have a provincial agency present your government with conclusions and recommendations that lack scientific basis and rigor. Quebec BAPE recently released a 626-page report recommending to the Environment Minister that it would be premature at this time to authorize development of a uranium mining industry in the province. It goes on by concluding that there are many uncertainties and unanswered questions about the environmental, health, social and other risks and concerns involved, the three-person BAPE panel, headed by former Le Devoir adversarial reporter Louis-Gilles Francoeur, cautions. The Matoush Uranium Mine was cleared for underground exploration by the CNSC and the Federal Environment Minister based the clearance on detailed environmental impact studies, but the project has been held up for years by successive Quebec governments. To suggest that uranium mining is unsafe is to imply that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Government of Saskatchewan have been irresponsible in their approval and oversight of the uranium mines of Canada for the last 30 years, Dr. Binder says in his letter to Pierre Baril, president of the BAPE. Characterizing CNSC staff as internationally recognized scientific and regulatory experts, Dr. Binder says they provided the BAPE panel with solid, factual evidence on how Canadian nuclear-related activities are among the safest and most secure in the world. The BAPE recommendation is based on a perceived lack of social acceptance of uranium mining and not on proven science, Dr. Binder adds.