A proposal to truck highly radioactive liquid waste 1,000 miles through the United States and Canada isn't sitting well with many environmentalists.
The US Department of Energy wants to transport the material from Chalk River, near Ottawa, to the Savannah River site in South Carolina.
Beyond Nuclear Radioactive Waste Specialist Kevin Kamps believes this has never been done via truck and says it would set a dangerous precedent.
"We're worried about the Bluewater Bridge, Sault St. Marie, and Interstate 75 traversing much of Michigan as well as Interstate 69," says Kamps. "This could just start the ball rolling with 150 of these truck shipments. But, there are vast quantities of liquid highly radioactive waste in the US. It'd be Russian Roulette in a radioactive sense on the roads, rails and waterways if they start moving this stuff."
Kamps says they should be cementing and downblending the material rather than shipping it.
He says the US Department of Energy is justifying the shipments as a way to protect against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He argues Canada isn't at great risk.
There's a "Protect the Great Lakes" walk and rally planned for Saturday. It gets underway at noon from the Flag Plaza under the Bluewater Bridge in Port Huron.
