CAMBRIDGE -- Cambridge residents are raising concerns about proposed low-level radioactive waste processing in the area.
Construction company Aecon Group Inc, applied to process the waste at its local facility. Some residents said nuclear waste doesn't belong in the community.
The facility is located at Sheldon Drive. It could soon house tools and components to allow for processing low-level radioactive waste.
The company has sent the application through the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
The CNSC said Aecon submitted its application on July 16, 2019. The application is in the technical assessment phase while staff review the latest program submissions, a statement to CTV News Kitchener said in part.
"The communities generating the waste should be the ones taking it, not giving it to us," Cambridge councillor Nicholas Ermeta said.
Ermeta added he's concerned about the delivery of the nuclear waste.
"We don't know where it is coming from at this point," Ermeta said.
There are also concerns about how the waste will be stored.
"There would be no long-term storage of low-level nuclear waste in Cambridge," a statement from Aecon said in part.
The CNSC said low-level radioactive waste contains material that is more radioactive than clearance levels and exemption quantities allow. It loses its radioactivity levels within 300 years.
Residents are concerned about the project.
"It's dangerous, I would think," resident Darren Whitehead said. "No nuclear waste around. My daughter is only seven years old."
Ermeta said the facility is in an area with a lot of young families.
"There are over seven schools within a couple kilometres," he said.
Whitehead also said he's worried about contamination, but the company said that won't happen.
“The type of processing which would be performed under the license application does not create any risk of a potential liquid spill," Aecon's statement said.
Aecon said the CNSC governs more than 2,000 licences across the country.
The mayor's office said city officials plan to meet with Aecon soon to make sure they fully understand the company's plans.
