A spokesman for Bruce Power says the company is fully in favour of the deep geologic repository to store low and medium level nuclear waste at the site on Lake Huron.
That's despite a statement from Bruce Power's former CEO suggesting all low level nuclear waste be recycled and reused, rather than stashed in a DGR in Kincardine.
Duncan Hawthorne was upset after opposition killed his plan to ship 6 large steam generators to Sweden for recycling.
"My point is, if we are able to do that, I've got a strong argument, that says what are you building that DGR for? Because if we follow the principals of reduce, reuse and recycle, we can incinerate the mops and clothes and stuff, and we'll minimize the other stuff, to the point where maybe we don't need it." He said.
"If you want my honest opinion about the DGR for low and intermediate level nuclear waste, I wouldn't do it that way if it was me," Hawthorn adds.
The four-year-old video also shows Former Bruce Power CEO Duncan Hawthorne telling an open house that he thinks the search for a willing community for a second nuclear waste storage site in the area is causing a lot of concern and confusion.
"I said to the NWMO, go away, and go away for at least a decade. Why are you doing it right now, because you're confusing this whole community. What's up with DGR 1 and DGR 2, and what's that all about. I don't control that, but it's a problem. Because whether you support the science and technology of it, its a problem in communications You've smeared two things together and they're not the same, not even close to being the same," Hawthorne explains in the video.
Bruce Power Vice President of Corporate Affairs James Scongack suggests that opponents are circulating the discussion from 2013 in an attempt to divide and conquer.
"Bruce Power came out for the first time publicly very recently following the completion of the independent panel, resolutions passed by local municipalities, and a commitment OPG made to indigenous communities, and wrote to the minister [of environment] and expressed our support for progressing with the DGR project," explains Scongack.
"Obviously there has been a lot of dialogue on this over the years, but that doesn't change the fact that this has gone through an independent science based process," he adds.
Scongack stresses the company and the industry are acting as good environmental stewards.
"There's a strong commitment between Bruce Power and OPG to reduce, reuse and recycle. We have a joint industry group on that front. Right now, every single day, on the Bruce site, and all the facilities in Ontario, and frankly across the country, are carrying out activities to reduce both low level and intermediate waste products," adds Scongack.
The Joint Review Panel released its decision supporting the DGR project in May 2015.
Some opponents suggest that means the two-year statute of limitations should make those recommendations null and void. Saugeen Shores resident John Man told the panel, they don't need spend money on two separate nuclear waste repositories.
The Minister of Environment Catherine McKenna asked OPG to study alternate locations back in February of 2016 before she makes a final decision on the project.
OPG submitted some information, but now the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) has asked for further research on alternate sites for a proposed deep geologic repository for low and medium nuclear waste, which OPG will submit by May 26, 2017.
OPG will submit additional information about the alternate location summaries, and about the cumulative effect of the possibility of two nuclear waste repositories located near one another.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization, meanwhile, is studying a number of locations for a second repository which would store used nuclear fuel, and several of those sites would be near the planned OPG nuclear waste storage repository.
OPG says once they receive environmental assessment approval, they would apply for a construction licence. That would be followed by further design work and site preparation. The DGR would not be in service until 2026 at the earliest.
Scongack adds Bruce Power also supports the ongoing process to find a home for a second deep geologic repository to store nuclear fuel, possibly also in Midwestern Ontario.
South Bruce, Central Huron and Huron Kinloss are all being considered as possible locations to store the high level nuclear waste for Canada.
https://youtu.be/h_ScwCBDoEk