First Nations in Canada have launched a new report and film warning of the danger of nuclear power and radioactive waste.
The report, Indigenous Views on Nuclear Energy and Radioactive Waste, and short documentary, Askomiw Ksanaqak (Forever Dangerous): Indigenous Nations Resist Nuclear Colonialism, are available online.
The report is based on analysis of 30 statements about nuclear energy and radioactive waste by Indigenous nations and communities in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The study also gathered more than 125 documents submitted to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) by Indigenous organisations in these three Canadian provinces.
Organisers say the documents highlight that Indigenous nations do not support more nuclear development or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on Indigenous homelands. A common theme is the CNSC is "not listening to Indigenous voices, and their right to be meaningfully consulted on nuclear projects has not been met".
Indigenous communities consistently noted that producing and storing nuclear waste on their territories without their free, prior and informed consent is a violation of their rights under international law. They seek justice for their communities now and for the generations to come.
The report and video were co-published by the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group Inc., an Indigenous organisation representing the rights and interests of the Peskotomuhkati Nation in Canada, and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University.
Point Lepreau on the Bay of Fundy, the location of New Brunswick's current nuclear reactor and planned future nuclear experiments, is within the homeland of the Peskotomuhkati whose duty is to protect their lands, waters, and environment for all present and future generations.
The CEDAR project's Indigenous partners – Chief Hugh Akagi of the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik and Chief Ron Tremblay of the Wolastoq Grand Council – each wrote a foreword to the report, and Chief Akagi features prominently in the documentary.
Both Indigenous leaders are opposed to the production of radioactive waste at the Point Lepreau nuclear site on the Bay of Fundy and have not consented to plans by NB Power to develop at least two experimental nuclear reactors at the site that, if built, would produce more and different forms of radioactive waste.
