Nearly 30 people spoke to council about BWXT's licence extension application Monday night at city hall.

BWXT Nuclear Energy Canada manufactures nuclear fuel bundles in Peterborough and assembles uranium dioxide pellets that are manufactured in Toronto.

Its licence expires at the end of 2020 and they've applied for a new licence with one change: BWXT would like to be allowed to start producing pellets at both the Toronto and the Peterborough facilities.

Although the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's staff assessment recommends that the pelleting be allowed in Peterborough, the commission has not made a decision yet and is holding a hearing in Toronto and in Peterborough in early March before any licence can be granted.

A public hearing on the application is scheduled for March 5 and 6 in the Regency Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Peterborough Waterfront on George Street, along with March 2 and 3 in Toronto.

On Jan. 20 at City Hall at a committee meeting, Coun. Dean Pappas moved that city councillors object to the application - but it was voted down.

Instead councillors voted on Jan. 20 to have staff report back to councillors about how the city would respond in the event of an emergency at BWXT involving nuclear materials.

On Monday, council was to vote a final time on that plan not to oppose BWXT's application for a licence amendment - but first they heard from residents.

There were so many registered to speak on BWXT and other topics (56 registered delegations, in total - the majority for BWXT) that council heard the public speak and will reconvene on Thursday at 6 p.m. for a debate and vote.

All but one speaker on BWXT on Monday was there to urge council to oppose the licence application for uranium pelleting.

Here's some of what was said at the meeting:

Deirdre McGahern: "Once it's approved - we can't go back and have it unapproved ... Someone has to take ownership of it happening in Peterborough."

Corinne Mintz said pelleting "is a dusty process" and uranium powder can enter the lungs and travel throughout the body. "And they can remain in the body for years - for the remainder of one's life."

Sue MacKay said she's concerned about the potential "stockpiling" of tonnes of uranium powder. BWXT may try to reassure you that it's safe, she said - but you "cannot account" for the potential of human error.

"No amount of radioactive materials is safe - ever . We need to base our decisions on the facts of what is going on here."

Philip Kienholz: "I oppose the licence - period. There's no room for uranium manufacturing in the middle of the city ... It's just absurd."

Kathy Dunne: "You have a responsibility for this community - I implore you to speak out .. We expect you to use your voices and advocate for all of us. We deserve your representation."

Claudette Beaudoin says she has lived here 19 years and is a schoolteacher: "Just thinking about the students there makes me sick and want to cry. It worries me that heavy metal dust - even at a low rate - would be so close to Prince of Wales."

Roy Brady: "Nobody mentioned that across the street there's a school . This is really a children's issue. There's too much risk in adding nuclear operations .. You should somehow insist BWXT remove that request. Please take that stand for the sake of children."

Jim Dufresne said he's concerned about a massive hydrogen tank that would be needed at BWXT if the firm does pelleting - and the potential for it to explode.

"81 metres away from a school with a whole bunch of kids in it? Someone ought to be ashamed of themselves."

Bill Templeman said property values in the Avenues will decrease due to uranium pelleting if BWXT gets its license approved. He said property values near the pelleting plant in Toronto are among the lowest in the GTA.

Caroline Tennent: "It is wrong to make uranium pellets in a residential area - and so near a school . What kind of message are we sending children, if we say we're OK with this?"

Kathryn Campbell asked council to speak up and oppose the application for pelleting.

"I want you to advocate for my grandchildren - so they can come visit us."

Ruth Bishop was at the committee meeting on Jan. 20 and said she was upset by council's refusal to oppose the licensing application: "I left here in tears."

B.C., Nova Scotia and Yukon have large uranium ore resources but have banned mining of uranium, she said: "The place it belongs - like asbestos - is in the rocks."

Julie Cosgrove lives near the BWXT firm, but said she's never received any information from the company. "Even with hundreds of checks and balances, accidents happen . I ask that you be informed and ask good questions."

Peter Harris, a science teacher for 30 years, said he's concerned that if there were ever an explosion of hydrogen near uranium powder storage, it will spread the powder across the city.

He says there's no place else in the world where this type of manufacturing involving uranium is located so close to a school: "If you can find another example, let me know."

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

George Campana: "To have a nuclear processing facility in the middle of a residential neighbourhood - near a school - is criminal."

Jenny Carter: "Nuclear energy has not, and never has been, about energy: it's about the military, and about whether or not we can have a nuclear war .. BWXT is a nuclear weapons manufacturer."

Stacy Smith says she's concerned that an accident could happen.

Erin Parker: "We do not want BWXT operating in Peterborough. In a residential neighbourhood, it makes no sense .. Maybe it's a federal matter. We all live here: it's a municipal matter."

Jacki Millar said she's a kindergarten teacher and she's concerned about the potential for pelleting.

"If there were to be a disastrous event in Peterborough, I have no idea how I'd protect children in my care."

Margie Sumadh: "I worry about councillors being seduced by the possibility of jobs. Are there any? You are our leaders: take leadership."

Trista Gilbert said she's concerned about the potential for uranium to cause cancer in citizens.

"It's not going to be an epic event - it rarely is . Slowly, cancer will start to grow in some of us .. There will be no way to prove there's a correlation."

Cam Douglas said he has data to show beryllium is present in the oil at Prince of Wales School: "I am imploring the city . you do have the capability to write a letter."

Steve Daniels said uranium dust could become airborne across the city.

"It's very easy to think this is an issue for the few people who live nearby that facility - but it is not . I'm asking you to stand up - to defend our health, to defend our environment . You may not be the regulators, but you're still our representatives."

Star Davey: "This is a crisis in the making that you guys can stop. This doesn't have to happen . Please, please, please stand with us - and stand for us."

Gillian Trowbridge said pelleting will add radioactive pollution to the city: "This is a fact .. There is no safe dose of radiation."

Lynn Hopkins: "There is a lot of fear-mongering going on."

Lots of people in the nuclear industry are "honourable people who say what they mean and mean what they say . I just wanted to say there is probably just as many people who feel the opposite way to what you've heard tonight."

Nick Lato, who lives downtown and is raising a young family: "I'm pretty terrified. If this does go through, I'm not going to want to stay, probably."

Eleanor Underwood asked councillors whether it has occurred to them that developers might prefer to build in "a uranium-free zone."

Offering the licence to BWXT is a bit like "putting a bomb in the middle of our city," she said, because it would take a 9,000-gallon tank of highly-flammable hydrogen to do uranium pelleting.