Renomination of Radionuclides as Chemicals of Mutual Concern Under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement - Prepared by John Jackson

By the end of the lives of the existing nuclear power plants, the NWMO estimates that the amount of nuclear fuel waste in storage near the shores of the Great Lakes will be around 106,000 tonnes.20 On the U. [...] Given the extreme persistence of some of these radionuclides and the nature of the Great Lakes system where the waters and the pollutants have a long hydraulic residence time in the basin, it is essential to not just look at annual releases but to also take into account the cumulative releases over the years, i.e., to take into account both past, current and projected releases to the basin. [...] 5 Renomination of Radionuclides as Chemicals of Mutual Concern, May 16, 2022 Since it is currently impossible to state the extent of the releases of radionuclides into the Great Lakes basin, our answer to whether releases will increase is based on the likelihood of the sources of releases being maintained or increased. [...] Given that many radionuclides meet the criterion for toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation and the criterion for releases to the basin, it is essential to use the precautionary approach in the GLWQA and designate radionuclides as CMCs with one of the goals of that designation being to address the severe limitations in the benchmarks, in biomonitoring, and in understanding of cycling of radionu. [...] Great Lakes food web? The IJC’s Nuclear Task Force report included an assessment of the literature and of available data to describe the quantities and composition of reported releases of radionuclides to air and water, and the distribution of these nuclides in atmospheric, aquatic and biotic compartments of the ecosystems of the 8 Renomination of Radionuclides as Chemicals of Mutual Concern, May.