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OTTAWA - Canada said today it has approved the idea of burying nuclear waste deep in the ground at a single location, a proposal that green activists say is unsafe.
Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said he has chosen the so-called adaptive phased management (APM) method of managing used fuel in the long-term.
"APM includes the isolation and containment of used nuclear fuel deep in the earth, with an option for temporary shallow underground storage," Lunn said in a statement.
"This is a safe, long-term approach. APM will ensure the used nuclear fuel is monitored and retrievable."
Canada currently has 20 functioning nuclear reactors that produce around 15 per cent of the country's electricity.
Greenpeace says Canada has around 40,000 tonnes of nuclear waste, all of it stored at the power stations. The group says there is a chance that waste buried underground will eventually start leaking, with catastrophic results.
- REUTERS
