TORONTO - Opposition critics say the provincial government must look into the increasing number of alarms indicating that radioactive waste is turning up in Ontario landfills.
Alerts went off 119 times across the country in the last fiscal year, up from 13 in 2005-06.
An annual report by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says the majority of those alerts came from southern Ontario landfills.
The report says more than 75 per cent of all the alarms were triggered by small quantities of short-lived radioactive substances of medical origin, "which pose little or no risk.''
But it does not elaborate on the threat posed by the other alarms.
New Democrat critic Peter Tabuns says the numbers suggest the province may be ill-equipped to deal with radioactive waste if it decides to build more nuclear power.
He says Ontario must study best practices around the world and implement changes so toxic material doesn't become a hazard.
Critics say they're concerned that Ontario -- and other provinces like British Columbia and New Brunswick -- doesn't have regulations requiring radiation-detection devices at landfills or transfer stations, where loads of solid waste from hospitals, laboratories and industrial plants are temporarily stored before being trucked to dumps or recycling depots.
The nuclear safety commission says a key reason for last year's increase in waste alarms was greater awareness of potential safety issues stemming from a commission poster and pamphlet campaign.
In addition, an increased number of municipal waste facilities and transfer stations, especially in the Toronto area, have installed sensitive monitoring systems that detect radioactive substances inside trucks and other vehicles.
There has also been an improvement in the quality and detection ability of the systems.
