The Nuclear Tomb: The Social (Un)Acceptability of Nuclear Waste in Ontario, Canada

Dr. Polleri is examining the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) attempt to find an informed and willing host for the disposal of Canada’s high-level radioactive waste in a deep geological repository potentially situated in the province of Ontario. The research will explore the issue of social acceptability of nuclear waste-sitting within groups that either oppose or agree to host an underground landfill site for spent nuclear fuel. Dr. Polleri is interested in studying the notion of an informed and willing community, especially when issues of public participation in controversial scientific issues revolve around a set of pluralistic communities that invariably have divergent interests, cultural values or lifestyles. As such, he is currently exploring how definitions and perceptions of risks and benefits are produced, mobilized, and communicated to the population, as well as how different communities receive, interpret, and use nuclear-related information to make a potential hosting decision. Regarding willingness, Dr. Polleri is interested in understanding the moral, social, cultural and economic imperatives that influence consent for nuclear waste-sitting, as well as what consent politically implies in the face of multigenerational issues that go beyond decisions made by a single generation? Ultimately, the research plans to highlight how social (un)acceptability of waste and controversial projects are determined in liberal democracy that nominally rely on public participation, while also being influenced by corporate factors and neoliberal ideologies. Dr. Polleri has already collected ethnographical data in Ignace and South Bruce, the only two communities still considered by NWMO.