As Canada moves towards storing nuclear waste underground, experts at an international climate conference in Montreal are warning the industry to begin considering the security issues at stake.

Nuclear energy is being trumpeted by the industry as an important source of carbon-free energy but before production of nuclear energy ramps up, long-term solutions to the waste must be found, experts warn.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn announced last June that the government had agreed in principle to exploring the underground option.

That has many environmentalists uneasy and others concerned about the risks associated with processing nuclear waste.

They have criticized the nuclear industry for downloading responsibility for such issues onto governments.

The international climate change conference has gathered policy makers and business leaders to discuss practical solutions to combating global warming.

Arctic activist puts human face on climate change

Nobel prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier urged participants to not forget the human impact of climate change.

In her keynote speech delivered this week, she reminded conference delegates about the indelible effects of global warming in the Arctic, where ice melt is jeopardizing the Inuit way of life.

"This is the reality," she said Wednesday night. "There is no more debate on this issue. The Arctic is melting.

"When you bring it down to children and families, that's what life is all about," said Watt-Cloutier, the Quebec-born former head of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

Quebec premier Jean Charest encouraged the United States to take a leadership role in global efforts to slow climate change.

"The United States is the most powerful economy in the world. They have the know-how, they have the resources and the financial means," he said.

"The world needs the American people to be very involved and committed to dealing with the issue of climate change if we're going to address it."

Charest told the crowd there is reason to hope the U.S. will step up to the challenge — he said the country was once skeptical about acid rain but ended up crafting the Clean Air Act.

With files from the Canadian Press