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Creighton’s NWMO support over $550K

Nuclear waste officials have earmarked over half a million dollars for Creighton to support and reward the town as it learns about potentially storing radioactive material.

Nuclear waste officials have earmarked over half a million dollars for Creighton to support and reward the town as it learns about potentially storing radioactive material.

The $551,465 in funding, tied to administrative support, strategic planning and community projects, has been allotted by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) since April 2012.

The lion’s share of the funding, $400,000, is going into a reserve fund to be spent on community projects in Creighton.

Another $131,465 has compensated Creighton for administrative costs related to learning about NWMO’s plan to store nuclear waste in an underground repository.

The remaining $20,000 is funding Creighton’s strategic planning program, including the development of something the town lacks: a vision statement.

In each case, questions have been raised as to whether it is appropriate for NWMO to provide funding to a municipality that remains officially neutral on the question of nuclear waste storage.

In terms of the $400,000 fund for community projects, NWMO spokesperson Mike Krizanc said the contribution is about recognizing the work Creighton has done to further the long-term plan for Canada’s nuclear waste.

Seven other communities – three that continued to learn about nuclear waste storage and four that were removed from consideration – are also each receiving $400,000 for projects of their choosing.

“These communities, each and every one of them, have demonstrated strong leadership on behalf of all Canadians to help advance Canada’s plan for the safe and secure management of used nuclear fuel,” Krizanc told The Reminder previously. “We want to recognize the contribution that they have made.”

As for administrative support, Krizanc has said no municipality should have to pay out of pocket to be part of the NWMO learning process.

In terms of support for a vision statement, Krizanc addressed concerns around that funding at a public meeting last month.

Krizanc said communities that accept the funding are instructed not to consider nuclear waste when formulating their vision statements.

Once the statement is complete, he said, a community can see whether waste storage is a good fit.

Nonetheless, some opponents of the nuclear-waste project, including Creighton resident Cynthia Fedak, worry money – the $400,000 reserve fund in particular – may have undue influence on public opinion.

“When doesn’t money sway people?” Fedak told The Reminder last year. “I mean, most of us are tempted to say, ‘Oh boy, it would be good to have a whole bunch of money,’ but I don’t know whether it’s worth it or not.”

Earlier this year, Creighton Mayor Bruce Fidler told The Reminder that he does not consider Creighton’s acceptance of funding from NWMO to be a conflict of interest for a still-neutral community.

NWMO’s underground repository, which will store the nation’s spent nuclear fuel rods, is not expected to open until 2035. The location is still likely years away from being chosen.

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