COM 0212.234 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~~tti~~~ - ~~~1 z~ Testimony Before the County Council ~t'lll e~ Regazding Bi1162 and Res. 71-97 May 7, 1997 by Kathy Dorn There is a place in Quebec Canada, owned and operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), a federal crown corporation, called Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. It is where 90% of the world's supply of cobalt-60 comes from. It is the most radioactively contaminated site in Canada - a very nucleazized country. 3,700 acres of environmental hell where seepage of deadly radioactive isotopes into ground water, the Ottawa River, Lake Perch and other surface waters, is taking place. Millions of curies of radioactive isotopes have been released into the air over the years. It is the home of the NRU reactor, a dangerous, old decrepit reactor which is kept operating to supply Nordion with cobalt-60 and other isotopes for nucleaz medicine. If AECL breaks the contract with Nordion, a $450 million lawsuit can be expected.. However, the NRU is scheduled for shutdown in the year 2000. The Maple X10 reactor may never be built. You were alerted to this situation weeks ago. Has anyone on the Council looked into the possibility that there will not be any cobalt-60 in 3 years? You are ready to put the taxpayers in debt without this very important question being answered? Amazing! I have here the financial statement from Food Technology Services detailing the years 1994 through 1996. As of Dec. 1996, FTS has lost $6,587,906 since its inception in 1985. A note from the CPA is quoted as saying "The Company is in the development stage and has incurred losses since inception. Accordingly, there is substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern." FTS is the first and only food irradiation facility in the country and is going belly up. What gives you the confidence that you aze not wasting taxpayers money by incurring this debt? Is there any rational, sensible business person here today who would invest a dime into this project without some fundamental questions being answered. It is also so discouraging that you so cavalierly disregard health, safety and environmental issues. Would you trust a tobacco company representative who told you that nicotine was not addictive and that cigazettes do not cause cancer? You are equally foolish to believe any representative of any nuclear industry or nuclear-related bureaucracy. Many of them will lie as coolly and as arrogantly as any tobacco company representative lied under oath to Congress. They will minimize, deny, and distort to create an illusion of safety and you, like sleep walkers, the deluded, walking like strange dreamers into atrap - we are trying to wake you up. We aze witnessing an emotional, irrational stampede. A business stampede that is recklessly trampling the truth. Please defer this vote. You do not know enough to make a reasoned choice. You are not educated about key elements of the issue. You do not have the most fundamental financial or economic analysis. We will not forget what takes place here today. C,om~? llq 7 ~~..Z~3y---- ytlm xe. r-N u ~ PrQSented ~<< Rat. NAY G 7 ~i