URANIUM: The Mines

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URANIUMThe Mines Radioactive Waste Left
Behind
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Uranium Mines in Canada
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Cigar Lake
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Uranium City
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Port Hope
www.porthopehealthconcerns.com
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Ardoch Algonquin
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Mine
Mill
Tailings
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Environmental Threats

• Waste Dispersal
• Water Contamination
• Air Pollution Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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Waste

• Radioactive, acidic, acid-generating heavy
  metals
• Canada home to 109 million tons of waste rock
  214 million tons of tailings
• Current waste generation 0.5 million tons/year
• Mining lower grade ore more waste
• Long-term storage requires long term
  institutional care Auditor General of Canada

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Who regulates tailings?

• Canadas laws deficient
• Operating mines/mills regulated by CNSC and
  provinces
• Improvements but radioactive spills frequent
• Long term containment of tailings remains an
  unsolved problem

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Churchrock, New Mexico
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Water Contamination

• Groundwater contamination
• Surface water discharges
• Effluent from uranium mines and mills has been
  classified as toxic for the purposes of the
  Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
• Uranium mining operations involve extensive
  pumping-out of groundwater (in excess of 16
  billion litres/year).

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Elliot Lake
Robert Del Tredici
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Key Lake
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Air Pollution Greenhouse Gases

• Radon gas
• Volatile Organic Compounds
• Sulfur dioxide emissions
• Greenhouse gas emissions

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What we dont knowcan hurt us

• How to eliminate radiation
• Effects of chronic exposure to low level
  radiation on biota and ecosystems
• How to decommission uranium mines so as to
  minimize radionuclide migration forever
• Significance of other contaminants released by
  uranium mining.

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Recent headlines

• Cameco says concrete barrier at Cigar Lake has
  been poured, work going ahead - February 19, 2008
• Cameco's Rabbit Lake mine back in operation
  (after flooding) January 2, 2008
• Cameco to spend up to Can20 million to clean up
  Port Hope, Ont., plant January 28, 2008