The Gazette Shipping weapons-grade plutonium along the St. Lawrence Seaway poses a serious threat to Montrealers and the federal government should drop plans to import it from Russia, the Montreal Urban Community environment committee says. The MUC is following the example of almost 100 municipalities along the St. Lawrence, as well as anti-nuclear activists and federal opposition parties, that are demanding the government stop importing plutonium from decommissioned nuclear warheads.
Federal officials counter that their plan poses absolutely no danger to the public.
The MOX is ground into pellets and shipped in zirconium tubes, usually in quantities of about 120 grams, and immobilized in ceramic containers. This can't hurt anybody. But assurances from AECL aren't doing much to dissuade the plan's opponents. Marvin Rotrand, one of the Montreal city councillors who first raised the issue of MOX with the MUC council, said AECL is protecting its interests by not telling the full story. Whatever AECL says, the possibility of accidents is not remote.