Mr. Speaker, this bill is intended to replace the 1946 Atomic Energy Control Act. It is destined to remedy some of the problems encountered in the existing act and replace the Atomic Energy Control Board with a nuclear safety commission as described in Bill C-23.
It seems to me one area of progress is that the new commission will have the authority to order remedial actions and seek financial guarantees for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. This is a very important central theme when it comes to nuclear power. This is important because in May 1995 the auditor general estimated that nuclear waste disposal solutions will cost at least $10 billion, I repeat $10 billion, over the next 70 years. He estimated that the federal government's share of this cost would be around $850 million minimum, and that this cost could increase if the federal government had to assume responsibilities for nuclear waste producers who fail to meet the clean-up and decommissioning obligations.
This bill requires that all reactors and mines produce decommissioning plans by as early as January 1, 1997 which include cost estimates for so-called cradle to grave waste management responsibilities associated with the facility. This is a very good initiative embodied in the bill.
In a cursory look at the bill itself, the language in clause 24(5) needs to be strengthened to ensure that licences necessarily contain a condition that the applicant provide a financial guarantee in a form and to an extent acceptable to the commission itself.
Every effort must be made to ensure that the real cost of nuclear power production is absorbed by the producers and consumers. It must not be externalized, postponed or pushed into the future to be paid for at some later date by the Canadian public.
At the present time, the decommissioning and nuclear waste disposal costs at Ontario Hydro are carried as an internal debt. In other words, as far as I was able to determine, no real dollars are being set aside for future decommissioning. Perhaps it is being done on paper, but that is the extent of the provision being made right now for future generations. When needed, Ontario Hydro would then borrow the money.
I have been informed by the Minister of Natural Resources that it is Ontario Hydro's intention to change this practice in the near future and to begin to set aside real dollars in an external fund. This is an urgent matter. When the time for decommissioning comes, one is not certain that the utility will be in a position to borrow the required funds. Only through setting aside dollars in an external special fund that is known and visible to the public can the long term interest of the public be properly served.
In addition to setting aside real funds for decommissioning reactors, the cradle to grave management of nuclear waste also requires that an appropriate amount be set aside for that purpose. Here again the auditor general has warned us of the magnitude of the nuclear waste problem over the next decades. It seems only reasonable to say at this stage that the new commission must ensure the necessary funds be made available.
For example, there are some 130 tonnes of radioactive sand in Elliot Lake which must be stabilized. By contrast in the United States, there are only 200 million tonnes of radioactive tailings. By law there, the tailings must be properly stabilized. Mining companies have already spent $2 billion to accomplish this. Here in Canada the mining company in Elliot Lake is talking of posting
some $4 million in the form of a bond to cover the stabilization of the tailings. You can see the difference in approach, Mr. Speaker.
It is hoped the new commission will ensure that in both the private and the public sectors-I hope the production of nuclear electricity will be in the public sector-the full cost of nuclear power will be paid by producers and consumers from start to end, from production to the final disposition of the spent materials, from cradle to grave as it is commonly said.
Another aspect of this bill requires attention. Bill C-23, which is entitled an act to establish the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and to make consequential amendments to other acts, allows for the incorporation of provincial laws in the nuclear safety and control act and the delegation of administration and enforcement to the provinces. This legislation could lead to the devolution of regulatory powers for nuclear energy to the provinces. With provincial budget cuts of the magnitude that have been announced, for instance in Ontario, one wonders whether the delegation of administration and enforcement is desirable and in the public interest.
Premier Harris and his government have shown a real interest in deregulation in areas of environmental protection and public responsibility by government. For instance, the Ontario government's red tape commission is presently examining proposals to increase toxic effluents from mines into water bodies. Second, the omnibus Bill 26 opens up conservation areas for development. If this were not enough, omnibus Bill 26 shifts the liability for abandoned mines and tailing sites from the private to the public sector.
The risks associated with nuclear power are, as we all know, to be watched. They require direct federal regulatory approaches. They require a federal presence, a federal responsibility in order to ensure the safety of Canadians and their environment.
In a cursory review of the bill, I notice that clause 24 needs to be strengthened. I would say the same for clause 42 which deals with indemnity and liability under the Nuclear Liability Act, and for clause 46 which deals with the treatment of contaminated land.
The Nuclear Liability Act must be mentioned in this debate because it is an act that needs to be revisited. It needs to be strengthened. The liability in our statutory legislation is too low. Times, costs, inflation and other factors require that the government bring this legislation to the House and modify, increase and modernize the approach that was perhaps adequate when that legislation was passed a few decades ago but is no longer adequate now. Therefore I urge the government to bring the Nuclear Liability Act into this House with the necessary amendments.
I would like to make two points. First, the nuclear industry is most likely the most subsidized industry in Canada. It has received, since its inception, over $5 billion of direct payments. Even now, in times of austerity, we will find an item in the budget of the Department of Natural Resources for a direct grant which exceeds $100 million, maybe in the range of $142 million or $145 million. Last year it was twice as much. It is an industry that is constantly being subsidized by the public at large. It is a subsidy that must come to an end. If everybody has to tighten their belts, from those who have to go on unemployment insurance to those who receive pensions, then the subsidies to industry also have to stop.
Second, our dependence on oil and nuclear sources of energy has to be examined and gradually changed. We need to plan for the future by shifting our dependence from the non-renewables such as fossil fuels and our dependence on the renewables as represented by the rather costly and, at times, dangerous nuclear source of energy to renewable sources.
However, in order to do that research and development have to be activated. Emphasis should be shifted from the continuous support for nuclear and fossil fuels to sources that range from biomass to solar and other forms of energy that are definitely within reach if the funds are put into research and development that are required in order to enhance and accelerate the process of reaching these potential alternatives that are definitely available to humanity.
Therefore, I hope this bill represents a temporary measure. It recognizes our dependence on nuclear power. I call on the government to ensure that this dependence is not increased, that the constant subsidization of the nuclear industry is eliminated, that we ensure that the liability is adequate, and that we move to the discovery of technologies that will provide Canadians and society at large with clean and safe sources of energy.