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Working Within An Ethical and Social Framework
After ten years of study and public hearings on the concept of deep geological disposal of used nuclear fuel (1989 - 1998), an Environmental Assessment Panel chaired by Blair Seaborn (the "Seaborn Panel") concluded in their 1998 report that the concept did not have sufficient public support to allow the government to proceed. The Panel identified the absence of any ethical and social framework within which to assess options as an important issue.
From its inception, the NWMO has committed itself to adhering to the highest ethical standards both in its procedures and in its assessment of management options. To guide it in this matter, the NWMO created a Round Table on Ethics in 2003. Its members were Georges Erasmus, one of the most reflective and experienced aboriginal leaders in Canada, David MacDonald, senior United Church minister and former federal cabinet minister, Andrew Brook, a philosopher with over 30 years of experience in the ethics of nuclear waste management, and three of Canada's most senior ethicists, Wesley Cragg, Arthur Schafer, and Margaret Somerville. The Roundtable concluded its work in late 2005.
As part of its mandate, the Round Table identified what the relevant ethical standards are, in its judgment, and organized them into the Ethical and Social Framework called for by the Seaborn report. Rather than issue what could appear to be dogmatic statements, the Framework expresses the ethical standards concerned as a series of questions for the NWMO to ask itself. The Framework was first published by the NWMO in April, 2004. A revised version was published in 2005. In December 2011 the Framework was reviewed for its continued appropriateness to guide new phases of NWMO’s work. The framework is intended to be a living document. We invite your thoughts and comments.
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