The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has joined the City of Toronto and Ontario environment ministry in declaring that emissions from the GE-Hitachi uranium plant on Lansdowne Ave. “pose no health risk.”

The federal agency released a report Thursday based on analyses of soil from the commercial property and surrounding residential neighbourhood, near Lansdowne Ave. and Davenport Rd.

“The public living near the facility and the environment are protected and safe from the facility’s nuclear activities,” the report states. “All releases to the environment are well below regulatory limits.”

The report comes on the heels of a related study by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, which took samples from nearby streets and parks this summer. That study, released two weeks ago, found traces of uranium that are below “typical background levels” present anywhere in Ontario, prompting the ministry and Toronto Public Health to deem the uranium facility safe.

The soil studies were conducted in response to public concerns about the GE-Hitachi plant’s operations. Many residents were shocked last October when the Star reported uranium was being processed at the facility in their neighbourhood.

The CNSC report was based on annual samples from the plant perimeter that were gathered by GE-Hitachi, as well as by the environment ministry from the nearby area, the report said.

CNSC’s analysis of 24 samples from the ministry study found uranium traces as high as 2.93 parts per million (ppm), or 2.93 millionths of a gram of uranium, while the rest were below 2.5 ppm, the level that can exist naturally in the province’s soil.

Of the eight perimeter samples that CNSC analyzed, three were above the natural level of 2.5 ppm, but none exceeded the commercial soil quality limit of 33 ppm. The highest was 21.2 ppm, found in soil near the railroad tracks adjacent to the facility, according to the report.

Zach Ruiter, an anti-nuclear activist calling for the facility to be shut down, questioned the disparity in uranium traces between those found near the railroad tracks and those in the residential neighbourhood.

“Considering the discrepancies between the results from the province, GE, and the regulator, these tests are unreliable,” said Ruiter in an email, calling for further study on the facility’s emissions.

The GE-Hitachi plant has been in operation for decades, producing uranium dioxide pellets, which are then shipped to Peterborough to be made into fuel rods.

The CNSC will present its report at a public meeting on Dec. 10 and 11 at the Yorkdale Holiday Inn at 3450 Dufferin St.

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