Canada's Low-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Problem: Voluntarism Reconsidered

Abstract

Voluntary siting methods are no more successful than conventional regulatory or market-based methods in siting new low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facilities. The promise of voluntarism, I argue, is diminished by the excessively local conception of public participation that typically informs voluntary siting attempts. This is evident in Canada's search for an LLRW disposal facility in Ontario. Placing strong boundaries around municipalities for purposes of public participation violates two key conditions of democratic siting policy - maximising social inclusiveness and ensuring a large unit of review. Selecting a larger unit of public deliberation would have permitted a more socially inclusive participatory analysis of the political, economic and social implications of managing radioactive wastes. A regional approach to LLRW management can therefore provide a more just and democratic framework for resolving siting disputes that jointly involve neighbouring communities.