Old Pinawa nuclear site centre of dispute

The province and the town of Pinawa are taking on Atomic Energy of Canada Thursday morning. They're in Ottawa, speaking at a public hearing of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

At issue is what will happen to an old nuclear plant in eastern Manitoba. AECL did research at the site for 35 years. It's been shut down now, and Atomic Energy of Canada wants to decommission it slowly, saying there's nowhere to send low-level radioactive waste right now.

Norm Branson, the province's deputy minister of conservation, says AECL is taking the least expensive option, not the safest.

"In a nutshell, their plans are to mothball the radioactive wastes that are on site for a period of at least 60 years. Our view is that's absolutely inadequate," Branson says.

"It's not at all consistent with practice in other parts of Canada. They've cleaned up a similar site in Ottawa, for example, to a much higher standard."

The mayor of Pinawa agrees. Len Simpson says it makes sense to do the cleanup work now, while the people who know the plant best are still around to do the job.

"We feel there's a strong safety issue," he says. "It's much safer if you have the people who understand the site, who work there for their lives, doing the cleanup."

A final decision will be made next year.