Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A modest proposal

For unexplained reasons, one of the main talking points from the pro-nuclear side in Saskatchewan has involved the amount of nuclear waste generated by nuclear reactors - with the claim being that the amount of waste generated to date "can be stored in an area the size of football field one metre deep".

But then, football fields have appeared elsewhere in recent Regina news - with the current assumption being that someone needs to foot a significant part of the bill for a new stadium based on the amounts the city, province and 'Riders are each willing to put in.

Which would seem to make for an ideal fit with where the Wall government is headed on the nuclear file. After all, according to the Sask Party's Uranium Development Partnership, the province should be eager to encourage any community willing to take on the risk of nuclear waste disposal in order to pick up an anticipated cash investment from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. And given how gung-ho Fiacco is about a stadium, Regina looks to be as likely a candidate as any to take up the offer.

So let's see if we can't tie the stories together with a creative suggestion: why not store nuclear waste underneath a brand-new NukeDome as part of Regina's downtown revitalization effort?

Sure, the nay-sayers will probably say "nay" - due to such trifles as Regina not falling into the geographic formations best suited for waste storage, or the sheer lunacy of endangering a major population centre with a type of storage which hasn't been done before in Canada.

But as long as we're being asked to take for granted that nuclear development is risk-free, those types of considerations should be easily outweighed by a shiny new bauble. And if the stadium can promote the 'Riders' colours with an eerie green glow, then so much the better.

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