NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is accepting an invitation from Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman to visit Ontario nuclear waste storage facilities after she challenged Premier Dalton McGuinty to publicly acknowledge the health risks of nuclear waste.

Horwath grilled both McGuinty and Smitherman in Question Period today about a statement made last week by Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci who urged his Sudbury constituents not to accept radioactive nuclear waste in their community because of the risk it poses to “the health of our children, our landscape and our future.”

“Unfortunately for Sudbury residents and all Ontarians, the person whose opinion really matters -- the Premier -- won’t come clean and admit that there is no safe way to isolate radioactive nuclear waste for future generations," said Horwath.

In response to McGuinty’s assertion that Ontario’s current storage practices are safe, Horwath noted that even the nuclear industry has concerns.

“The industry-run Nuclear Waste Management Organization admits it is impossible to prove that underground storage is safe,” she said.

Horwath said the waste concerns should be enough to derail the government’s planned expansion of nuclear power, which it claims is needed to meet Ontario’s future energy needs.

But that claim was refuted today by an Ontario Clean Air Alliance report indicating that Ontario can meet its electricity needs more cheaply by buying hydro power from Quebec and Labrador than by building new nuclear plants.

“For years, the McGuinty government has misled Ontarians about nuclear power, saying it is safe, emission-free and affordable. We know the exact opposite to be true. It’s now up to the Premier to face the facts and abandon his $50-billion nuclear expansion scheme,” said Horwath.