Bruce Power has wrapped up its pitch to continue operating the largest nuclear facility in the world.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission held four days of public hearings in Kincardine, receiving testimony from dozens of groups, both for and against Bruce Power's request for a five-year license for both Bruce-A and Bruce-B stations.
Saugeen Shores Mayor Mike Smith provided his community's support for the application, telling the commission residents in Saugeen Shores are comfortable with Bruce Power's operations and have no concerns about safety at the plant.
"As mayor, I can say our community supports council's position, and has a great deal of confidence in Bruce Power's ability to operate the site to the highest levels of safety," says Smith.
Bruce Power will be distributing potassium iodide tablets later this year to homes within a 10 km radius of the Bruce nuclear site, but the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment are asking for the radius to be expanded.
Executive Director Gideon Forman says the door-to-door distribution should be expanded to a 50 km radius, pointing out stockpiling the tablets in a central location could delay people having access to the pills during a nuclear emergency.
"Our concern as a doctor's organization is that if they're just stockpiling, it will be some time before people actually access them [during an emergency]. So that's why we're arguing for the actual pre-distribution within the 50 km radius," says Forman.
CNSC staff wrapped up the hearings by reiterating their recommendation for a five-year license renewal for both Bruce Power stations, but two environmental groups formally filed a request to limit one of the licenses.
Greenpeace Canada and the Canadian Environmental Law Association have asked the CNSC to limit the Bruce-A license to two years, a request that the CNSC must respond to.
“During the past four days of public hearings we've learned that that Bruce Power has yet to provide the needed safety reviews to support extending the lives of Bruce A reactors. In light of this, a five year licence is far too long,” says Shawn-Patrick Stensil, senior nuclear analyst with Greenpeace.
Units 3 and 4 at the Bruce-A station, along with all four reactors at the Bruce-B station are slated for refurbishment as part of Ontario's Long Term Energy Plan, while units 1 and 2 at Bruce-A were refurbished during the recent restart project.
Bruce Power President and CEO Duncan Hawthorne says the company put forward a solid case for another five years of operation.
"In large measure, I think the thing that came across is that Bruce Power are a community based company, we have the right values, we have the right relationships with our community and all of our stakeholders. I took a lot of lessons away from this which are areas for improvement, but they do not undermine the basic tenet that... we are a capable, competent licensee with good facilities that are worthy of a five-year extension," says Hawthorne.
Bruce Power's operating licenses are set to expire on May 31.