53M Gallons Of Nuclear Waste May Soon Be Stored Next To Great Lakes

"A proposed Canadian nuclear waste site near the shores of Lake Huron is facing mounting criticism from Michigan lawmakers who say it's dangerous and called on the federal government to intervene.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which supplies electricity in the Canadian province, has long had plans to construct and operate a deep geologic repository (DGR) for nuclear waste at the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant near Kincardine. The DGR would be just under a half mile underground and store nearly 53 million gallons of "low and intermediate-level" radioactive nuclear waste on a site three quarters of a mile from Lake Huron, part of the Great Lakes system that provides drinking water for millions of people in two countries.

'Building a nuclear waste dump less than a mile from one of the largest freshwater sources in the world is a reckless act that should be universally opposed," Michigan Rep. Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway Township) said in a statement Monday."

Kate Abbey-Lambertz reports for the Huffington Post May 20, 2014.