A small amount of the most highly radioactive waste on the planet, spent nuclear fuel, is planned for a secretive, highly protected shipment from an Illinois nuclear power plant through Michigan and Port Huron, on its way to Canada.
The plan, made public in filings last month with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has raised concerns with environmental groups and others.
“I would most definitely be concerned about the fact that they would bring this material through our waterway,” Port Huron Mayor Pauline Repp said.
Kay Cumbow, with the nonprofit Great Lakes Environmental Alliance in Port Huron, noted the risk in a release.
“A spill, release or fire here, or near waterways that flow into the St. Clair River, could potentially ruin one of the largest freshwater deltas in the world — the St. Clair Flats — and potentially poison forever drinking water and freshwater ecosystems for up to 40-plus million people of the Great Lakes, including residents of Canada, the United States, U.S. Tribes, First Nations and other indigenous peoples,” she said.
Keith Matheny – Detroit Free Press – August 11, 2018.
Want More Investigative Content?
