Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Waterloo—Wellington for a very important and pertinent question. The member has raised the question on the floor of the House of Commons on several occasions. He has also met with the Minister of Natural Resources to discuss the matter in person. I think the House should show its appreciation and respect for the hon. member's very diligent interventions on this issue.
Let me be quite clear that the present practice of storing nuclear fuel waste at the reactor sites throughout Canada is done in a very safe, efficient and responsible manner. However the Government of Canada wants to be more sure that we have an appropriate long term solution for the waste that is created in our Atomic Energy of Canada Limited facilities as well as facilities throughout Canada.
We would like to develop the concept of deep geological disposal of nuclear waste in the granite rock of the Canadian Shield. This was a proposal which was investigated under a public review of this concept which was initiated in 1998 under the federal environmental assessment and review guidelines order.
An eight member Canadian environmental assessment panel chaired by Mr. Blair Seaborn held public hearings in five provinces which have a nuclear interest. On March 13, 1998 the Seaborn panel released its recommendations to the government regarding the safety and acceptability of the AECL concept.
The Seaborn panel report found that from a technical perspective, safety of the geological disposal concept had been adequately demonstrated from the conceptual stage of development. However the disposal concept in its current form did not enjoy broad public support.
The panel recommended that a nuclear waste management agency be established quickly. The panel also recommended that the first steps for such an agency would be to deal with the stated lack of broad public support necessary to ensure the acceptability—