An Examination of Environmental Contamination Following a Hypothetical Used-Fuel Transportation Accident

In October 1994, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited submitted the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Concept for Disposal of Canada's Nuclear Fuel Waste to the federal environmental assessment panel set up in 1989 to review the concept (AEQ., 1994). 1be concept consists of disposal of packaged intact fuel or reprocessing waste 500 - 1000 m deep in granitic rock. No site has yet been selected; in 1981, the governments of Ontario and Canada decided that the concept should be shown to be acceptable before moving to the siting stage. The EIS represents the culmination of over 15 years of research and development by both AECL and Ontario Hydro. Ontario Hydro supports AEQ., in the development of the concept, and, under the terms of a Provincial-Federal agreement, is responsible for storage and transportation technology.