Bomb-Grade Uranium Being Shipped From Canada to the U.S.
By Ellen Cannon
Today, Canada’s Globe and Mail reports that “weapons-grade uranium is quietly being transported within Canada, and into the United States, in shipments that the country’s nuclear watchdog wants to keep cloaked in secrecy.” The radioactive freight is being shipped from Chalk River, Ontario into the U.S. via routes of which only authorized agencies and law enforcement personnel know the details. The freight contains a large enough amount of highly enriched uranium capable of making “several Hiroshima sized nuclear bombs.” (A. Blatchford, http://www.theglobeandmail.com, 12/27/11) Public hearings regarding sharing information regarding the potential danger of spent fuel have deliberately not been held by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in order to prevent potential terrorist groups from gaining any knowledge of the route. Failure to hold public hearings has become a serious issue among nuclear experts in and outside of the government.
In a memo classified as “Secret”, the CNSC contends that “it is unnecessary to hold public sessions that would allow citizens to ask questions and comment on shipments. The CNSC contends that the shipments are protected by “intense security protocol.” When asked why public hearings are not necessary for the uranium deliveries, a commission spokesperson replied by email: “they are not carried out given the robustness of the packages used and due to the security issues related to the transfers of highly enriched uranium.” The Canadian government added, “that there has never been a significant accident involving nuclear materials, anywhere in the world, and that such shipments occur regularly in Canada.” (www.citytv.com/toronto 12/27/11)
According to Canadian news reports, Canada has been “importing highly enriched bomb-grade uranium from the U.S. to make medical isotopes at Chalk River Ontario for the past two decades. (www.citytv.com/Toronto 12/27/11)While Canada has been pushing for all nations to move to low enriched uranium, it maintains a large inventory of the substance at Chalk River.”
According to the Canadian press, a shipment of weapon grade uranium material into the U.S. from Canada is the result of a highly publicized agreement signed in 2010 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barak Obama. Canada made its first uranium delivery in 2010. “It occurred in a single shipment using an existing, licensed fuel shipping package. The continued shipments to the U.S. will take place until 2018.” (www.citytv.com/toronto/)
According to present information, the 2010 agreement between Prime Minister Harper and President Obama was the result of fears “that nuclear bomb material could fall into the hands of terrorists.”(www.theglobeandmail.com12/27/11). "The Canada-U.S.agreement is part of a broader international project by the Obama administration to consolidate highly enriched Uranium at fewer, more secure sites around the world." www.citytv.com/toronto 12/27/11 In addition, Canadian news is reporting that “the U.S. government says it wants to convert uranium into a form that cannot be used to build nuclear weapons.
This is a far cry from the very public debates and hearings in the U.S. regarding potential shipments of spent fuel from American nuclear power plants to Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The Nuclear regulatory Commission (NRC) and several congressional committees were deeply embroiled regarding the transporting and burying of spent fuel, throughout 2011. ( Ellen Cannon, examiner.com “Questions Grow Regarding NRC’s Performance Competency and Policies, 6/30/11; Ellen Cannon, examiner.com “Rep. Shimkus Uncovers Alarming Details by NRC to Block Yucca Mountain, 6/15/11; Ellen Cannon, examiner.com “Senator Kirk’s Recommendations for Nuclear Safety, 7/31/11)
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R) is a strong advocate of nuclear safety regarding spent fuel shipments and nuclear power plant safety in general. He has loudly challenged the decisions of the Chairman Jaczako of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, regarding the handling of the Yucca Mountain facility. Illinois has the largest number of nuclear power plants in the United States. Senator Kirk urged “the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move nuclear waste from the Lake Michigan shoreline.” Senator Kirk underscored the serious potential threat to public health posed by the waste. He said, “At the decommissioned Zion nuclear plant alone, more than 1,000 tons of highly radioactive waste is stored only 200 years from the shoreline.” Senator Kirk views the Great Lakes, the source of over 90 percent of America’s fresh water, an essential element of America’s and Illinois’ eco system.
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