Mayor Bruce Fidler is ready to help lead Creighton through another round in the contest to potentially store Canada’s nuclear waste.
Creighton has survived the first round of cuts in the site-selection process and is now one of 17 communities in the running.
“I’m looking forward to the next few years,” Mayor Fidler said. “It’s going to be interesting, it’s going to be exciting, probably very stressful, but that’s okay.”
Mayor Fidler said Creighton has “a strong council” and a “strong” Community Liaison Committee, “so it makes it easier for me to do my job.”
He made the comments after accepting, on behalf of Creighton residents, a recognition plaque from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.
NWMO’s Joanne Facella presented the plaque during a Community Liaison Committee meeting held last week at the Victoria Inn.
“This is very heartfelt,” said Facella. “The NWMO has had the privilege of working with the community of Creighton and with other communities who came forward to learn about Canada’s plan for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel, and we’ve learned a lot from you.”
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The plaque consists of a framed letter recognizing Creighton for its “outstanding contribution on behalf of all Canadians” to advance the long-term plan for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel rods.
It mentions Creighton’s “pioneering leadership and willingness to learn” and how the town “has led the way in defining how project safety must be demonstrated to Canadians and communities.”
Facella presented the plaque on behalf of Ken Nash, president and CEO of NWMO, an arm’s-length agency funded by Canadian nuclear companies.
Research to date has not confirmed whether Creighton, or any other community, is a suitable location. No community has formally declared a willingness to host the project, only to learn more about it.
Creighton and three other towns that began discussions with NWMO in 2010, early in the site-selection talks, have now been chosen to proceed to the third of nine steps in the process.
Joining Creighton are the Ontario communities of Hornepayne, Ignace and Schreiber. Eliminated from contention are English River First Nation and Pinehouse in Saskatchewan, and Ear Falls and Wawa in Ontario.
Considered
Thirteen other Ontario communities will still be considered, but because they entered the process later than Creighton, Hornepayne, Ignace and Schreiber, they have not yet advanced to the same stage.
Creighton’s advancement means the town will undergo aerial surveys and, eventually, borehole drilling to further assess its geology.
NWMO will also conduct broader consultations with Creighton, Flin Flon and neighbouring communities, including First Nations, to gauge public sentiment.
In a surprise announcement, NWMO recently said it is awarding grants of $400,000 each to the four communities that have advanced as well as the four communities removed from consideration.
The money will go into what NWMO is calling “Community Well-Being Reserve Funds” to be spent on community projects of each municipality’s choosing.
The projects need not be related to nuclear waste storage.
