“The Politics of Consultation: Indigenous-Nuclear Relations Regarding Small Modular Reactors”

The nuclear industry has historically targeted Indigenous lands and communities to be the sites of extractive energy processes, such as uranium mining.6 This Chalk River project SMR will continue a long colonial history of asymmetrical and exploitive effects on Indigenous peoples perpetrated by the nuclear industry.7 The Duty to Consult is the legal responsibility of the federal and provincial gov. [...] Since the 1930s, the negative impacts of the nuclear industry’s activities like uranium mining have disproportionately impacted Indigenous peoples in Canada.12 Indigenous communities have seen the negative effects of the nuclear industry without being the benefactors of nuclear energy production.13 The history of Indigenous-nuclear relations illuminates patterns of inconsideration of Indigenous co. [...] The SMR project termed the Micro Modular Reactor (MMR), an effort of the energy company Global First Power, will be located in the Chalk River Laboratories situated on the Algonquins of Ontario land claim, one of the largest and most complex land claims in the province.68 This project comes two years after the facility’s 2018 relicensing, which was done without the consent of the Algonquin people.. [...] In July of 2020, the CNSC published the decision on the initial consultation process for the Environmental Assessment of the proposed MMR project.87 The document summarizes the completed steps in the Environmental Assessment process thus far, highlighting that the initial Indigenous Engagement process was ‘satisfactory and in accordance with [regulatory standards].’88 The document also notes that. [...] The dismissive attitude of the CNSC towards Indigenous legal legitimacy is emphasized by the inadequate articulation and response to the concerns and comments of the Indigenous Nations and organizations during the consultation period.