Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 07, 1978, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press wednesday june 7, 1978 City news it leaves you breathless 2nd class mail registration number 0286 White Shell nuclear chief hits plutonium ban Canada throwing away major Energy source scientist by Ron Campbell a major Energy resource will be thrown away if the Canadian government persists in its plutonium ban Robert Lyon head of the environmental Section at the White Shell nuclear research establishment at Pinawa said tuesday. He said Only very Small lab scale Bench top re search into reprocessing spent uranium oxide pellets for plutonium fuel is being done now in Canada. His comments followed presentation of a paper on disposal of radioactive uranium oxide waste to the 61st annual convention of the chemical Institute of Canada. The radioactive waste one per cent by mass of the uranium oxide occurs after the uranium oxide pellets have been used two years in a nuclear reactor at High temperatures under controlled conditions. Two types of waste Are produced fission products strontium 90 and cerium 137, which have a Short half life of 30 years and transmutation products one of which is plutonium. Lyon said the plutonium ban which could be interpreted As following a similar . Ban Means atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. Which owns the White Shell establishment Mist research the disposal of the uranium oxide waste. For the past 20 years the waste the zirconium encased rods of spent uranium oxide pellets has been stored in huge water tanks. There s nothing wrong with continuing this method Lyon said. But political social and environmental conditions in future May not be the same As now. This was another reason Why storage of uranium oxide waste was being researched. It had been concluded that the Best storage method was deep underground in extremely stable geologic formations such As found in the Canadian shield. Storage Sites would have Access shafts to storage vaults at a depth of one Kilometre. The subsurface storage Complex would cover an area one to two Kilometres Square. Economic benefits of a Multi million Dollar payroll and a High technology Industry plus the resulting tax benefits would accrue to the Community where such a disposal site would be located Lyon said. He said Sites will be located in Ontario which Al ready has four nuclear Power stations generating megawatts of electricity at Pickering and another four synthetic fuels posing Cash problems making synthetic fuels at affordable prices and with tolerable environmental Side effects is a key problem for chemists and chemical engineers or. P. J. Dyne director of the Federal of fice of Energy research in Ottawa said tuesday. He was speaking to an Energy symposium at the 61st annual conference and exhibition of the chemical Institute of Canada in the Winnipeg convention Centre. The Institute with a membership of about is the professional organization of Canada s chemists Chemi Cal engineers and chemical technologists. Cheapness is the Central problem in production of synthetic chemical fuels Dyne said. Other problems include How to synthesize materials on a Large scale supplying Energy for this process and doing it in a sanitary fashion. He illustrated the Cost of competing forms of Energy. A billion tar Sands Plant producing barrels of Oil daily would be producing a kilowatt hour of Energy a Day for a ther Opane window in a solar con version device produces an average of one kilowatt hour daily a Square metre yet already costs several times the a Square metre that would make it competitive with tar Sands Energy production. On the problem of Large scale syn thetic fuel production Dyne noted that Canada now consumes two million barrels or tons of Oil daily. Producing that amount of synthetic fuel such As Oil from tar Sands or methanol from Wood would present major logistical problems of handling and processing. Not Only would such Large scale production present problems of size and Cost of capital equipment but would also pose environmental questions. Catalysts and the catalytic process Are a key area for reducing the physical size of chemical reactors and plants through speeding up chemical reactions in synthetic fuel production. As for environmental pollutants these May be present Only in the amount of a few parts a million in the materials handled but could cause and verse environmental effects As they build up Over months or years. Little hard knowledge of the Environ mental effects of these Trace elements exists however partly because so Little is known about the chemistry of Trace elements and compounds in Large amounts of air and water Dyne said. Stations two of them now operational generating 750 megawatts each at Bruce nuclear generation already supplies 25 per cent of Ontario s Power heeds he said. Containers in which the radioactive waste is stored have not been specified but could Range from stainless steel almost indestructible steel flasks Are used in the . To a Ceramic composite. The underground repositories would Back filled As the site was utilized and it would take 50 years to fill Jpn a storage site. Site selection for nuclear waste storage won t begin for three years Lyon said adding that Canada now a the concept evaluation stage. Before undertaking Large scale storage decl will up Gage in a 15-year research and development phase with the first repository which will not be filled. Potential disruptive events such As meteorite Impact earthquakes and intrusion by Man into a storage site were considered and Only water seepage was discovered to have any probability of bringing radionuclide to the surface. This would occur where water seeps into the repository leaches out radionuclide and rises to the surface. N this would be inhibited by Low water solubility of the waste itself by the waste by the massive Rock Barrier to the surface by chemical Holdup of radionuclide on Rock and by environmental Holdup or dilution. Taken together with a preliminary estimate of water seepage of three tenths of a metre per year and the in direct route possibly involving thousands of metres through the Rock to the surface led decl to the conclusion that most of the radionuclide would decay before reaching the. Surface. Strike Choice could be soon Mega head some members of the Manitoba government employees association Mega May be making a decision within 10 Days on strike action association president Bill Jackson said tuesday. V Jackson said some components within the Union Al ready have authority to go to their members and seek a strike mandate but no move is Likely to be made until a few More bargaining sessions have taken place. He also said the educational component has reached the Point in negotiations where it is considering applying for arbitration. The Union president has complained repeatedly this year that talks Are proceed ing at a slower than usual Pace. He said tuesday it has been difficult even getting the government to agree to wage increases allowed by the Federal anti inflation Board the Union is in the final phase of the decontrol period and limited to a six per cent other major stumbling blocks at the bargaining table include attempts to secure tenure for term employees after a Given period of time and improving Layoff procedures. The Union has already announced its intention to Chal Lenge in the courts the Layoff of workers earlier in the year without Advance notice. Jackson said he is hopeful inroads will be made at the bargaining table and negotiators have continually raised a pre election letter written by Premier Sterling Lyon promis ing government co operation in achieving much the Union is now asking. The association has been without a collective agree ment since the end of March. Jackson said an advertising Campaign will Start this week in Winnipeg s newspapers in an attempt to counter the constant criticism and Public servant kicking govern ments have engaged in recently. The theme of the Campaign will be civil servants at work for Manitoba and besides informing the general Public about the role civil servants play it May also boost Public servant morale he added. Bill Jackson no talks scheduled Union says Only 30 pass by Scott Edmonds Only 20 or 30 Safeway workers in Manitoba have crossed picket lines to work during the three Day strike Union president Bernard Christophe said tuesday. Christophe president of the retail store employees Union local 832, said Safeway has More than workers in Manitoba. Earlier figures indicating Only apparently refer Only to the Winnipeg area no meetings have been scheduled Between the Union and Safeway. The strike has closed most of the company s stores. Christophe said tuesday he wants to sit Down with company negotiators and prove to the Public both sides Are mature enough to work towards a settlement. At least we can meet and he said. He said he did t want his statements to be interpreted As a sign of weakness. He remained critical of Safeway s View that the Union should exercise restraint. They Are preaching restraint for every body but he countered Point ing to a million profit last year up 61 per cent from the previous year. The Union seeks average wage raises of about 12 per cent in the first year of a two year agreement and eight per cent in the second. Safeway has offered six per cent each year. Also a strike Issue the Union president has said is a bid to win expanded benefits for part time workers. About 70 per cent of Union s membership is employed part some with Many years of service. The workers do not receive full vacation benefits or any sick leave the Union says. The Union is also asking for a 20-cent Premium to bring salaries of female Cashiers service clerks closer to those of ally male shelf stockers food the Chain stores offered about five cents to close the wage Gap Christophe said. Food clerks currently earn a maximum of 7.01 an hour while service clerks with the same experience earn thirty of Safeway s 39 Manitoba stores Are closed by the strike. A Portage la Prairie store is non Union and remains open along with six stores in Winni Peg and one in Brandon. Union employees in Neepawa Are not on strike since they Are legally under contract until july 11. Employees of Dominion and West fair foods lob Laws shop easy econ Mart not on strike although they too have rejected company contract offers. Swift workers examine offer about 500 employees of Swift Canadian co. Ltd. In Winnipeg had their first look tuesday at a contract proposal their National Union executive is urging All workers to reject. Voting on the contract will take place thursday across Canada and a strike vote has been scheduled for june 14. Contracts Between the Canadian food and Allied workers and the Large meat packing plants expired May 31. There Are about employees at Swift s five Canadian plants who will be voting on the contract and Loral Union business agent amino Zimmer said All results will be funnelled through the National office in Toronto. Negotiations Between the Union and the packers Are carried on on a National basis in. Toronto if the Swift workers go on strike Canada packers has vowed to lock out its workers a threat Union officials Call a conspiracy to unduly interfere with bar gaining. Photo by pal Deleske Francine Jonsson of Winnipeg examines tuesday in the w. J. Oliver exhibition of photography in uni City fashion Square. Looking Over her shoulder is a life size portrait of Grey owl. The show which is presented by Parks Canada is a Chance to see the work of one of Canada s Foremost photographic craftsmen of an earlier Era. Oliver came to Canada in 1908 and worked for the albertan. The show ends saturday. No Progress reported on strike of construction Trade workers hotels watched for Beer Sale cheating the Manitoba liquor control com Mission is keeping a close watch on hotels to make sure they Are not diverting Vendor Beer sales for use in beverage rooms during the brew Ery strike that began monday. Provincial regulations prevent hotels from using Beer intended for Sale through vendors in their Bever age rooms. The hotels pay less for Beer which is intended to be sold through vendors Only. Lon Tei Ilet Bead of the liquor control commission said tuesday his inspectors visited Botelis who had placed sold out signs in their windows to see if their shortages were genuine. Two hotels were Farad to have feel Back Vendor sales for potential use in their beverage rooms but most of the places visited were genuinely dry because of a Rush on the product Mon Day. No action is planned against the two offending hotels and they have reopened their Vendor sales after the visit by inspectors Tei Ilet said. Tei Ilet said there May be a possibility of people trying to import Beer from out of the province but the commission is leaving enforce ment of this to the ramp. Provin Cial Law states that the maximum amount of Beer which May be brought into Manitoba from an other province is two Gallons. No movement so far in breweries dispute talks have been arranged be tween striking and locked out brew c by workers and their Cir plovers a spokesman reported tues Day. However. John Kobodian of the i sued brewery and soft drink workers local 336, said both sides Nave their positions. The Union has been told by the breweries that they will return to individual negotiations but any set to Anent will have to be on a Indus try wide basis. The Union has repeated its refusal to be pressured into huf Stry wide talks. About fat brewery workers Are either on strike or locked oat by their employers. About 150 employees at Lavatts s brewery went on strike sunday to Back contract demands and carrying out an ear Lier threat other companies locked outworkers. Locked oat Are employees of associated Beer distributors of Eide candles distribution. Carting of Pete and Moi som breweries. Striking construction unions and contractors have not moved closer to a settlement. George Akins a spokesman for unionized contractors said tuesday no new Progress had been made. The strike started at the beginning of May. Although 12 out of 19 trades have settled major building projects Are stalled by picket lines set up by striking tradesmen. Police have escorted Winnipeg Enterprise employees past a picket line at Winnipeg stadium to clean up the area in Prepa ration for the season opening. Work stopped when the strike began on an addition to seating at the stadium. Electricians Sheet Metal workers and affiliated shelters and Deckers plumbers and Steamfitters and carpenters remain on strike. Twelve trades have agreed to Settle ments calling for a 40-cent increase in lie first year and a a Talent increase in the second year of a two year contract two non striking onions ironworkers and millwrights have also not yet settled. A Maia Issue in dispute is contractors attempt the Efi urinate the latent Kama draft Ert Wod of electrical control Over a pens a pin Fer carpenters wages Are Ether issues. The contractors have sent out letters directly to two groups of strikers carpenters and Sheet Metal workers bypassing their Union urging them to accept the wage package and return to work. A spokesmen for the Sheet Metal workers said he Felt the letter was out of line and Legal action might be considered. Electric firm s i offer rejected workers at Pioneer electric have turned Down a company contract proposal. John doff president of the United steel workers of America local 4297, said Day the Union would not immediately mow either to retain to negotiations or to seek strike mandate. Duff said be could not make Public detain of the company s contract offer. About 33 a Weber electric workers Are fete bowl. I fort a contract Swice Hay fee Cwb Feas been Flegm sating Apil i ;