[NukeNet] The Nuclear Legacy - Uranium mine wastes

[Kay Cumbow]

<http://www.greatlakestownhall.org/opinion/guest.php?forumid=3&topicid=1063&postid=&topicsubject=&dontscroll=1>http://www.greatlakestownhall.org/opinion/guest.php?forumid=3&topicid=1063&postid=&topicsubject=&dontscroll=1

The Nuclear Legacy - Uranium mine wastes
Brennain Lloyd (North Bay, Ontario)

The Nuclear Legacy - Uranium mine wastes in the Serpent River Basin

The first incursions of the nuclear industry into the north shore region of 
Lake Huron were the uranium miners who set up camp in the 1950s. That camp 
grew into the City of Elliot Lake, and those early explorations turned into 
a dozen mines that had generated close to 200 million tonnes of toxic 
radioactive waste by the time the last one shut down in the mid 1990s.

The two principal operators - Rio Algom :Ltd and Denision Mines – opened 
and operated a dozen mines in the Elliot Lake area, all in the headwaters 
of the Serpent River. The Serpent River’s source is Quirke Lake – a name 
shared with a closed mine and a massive tailings management area – eighty 
kilometres north of the Serpent River First Nation’s reserve and community 
on the north shore of Lake Huron.

By 1976 all 80 kilometres of the Serpent River system and ten local lakes 
had become highly contaminated by acid generating, highly radioactive 
wastes from the uranium mines. An official Ontario report noted that there 
were no living fish in the entire river located downstream from the mining 
wastes.

The mine shafts and buildings have been dismantled, and the majority of the 
mining wastes are now officially “decommissioned”. Most of them have a 
shallow water cover to slow down the rate of acid generation and act as a 
barrier between the radioactive mine tailings and the rest of the 
environment. But significant issues persist related to their long term 
management, particularly in the light of a changing climate and relaxing of 
institutional controls.

Tailings are the fine sand-like particles left over from the mining and 
milling process. Uranium tailings contain over a dozen radioactive 
materials and numerous heavy metals. The tailings in the Serpent River 
basin are also acid-generating. Acid mine generation is a phenomena where 
the sulphides in rock, when exposed to air and water, generate acid. The 
acid then greatly increases the rate of metals leaching from the waste rock 
or tailings. The tailings are up to 99% of the weight of the original ore, 
and retain up to 85% of the ore's original radioactivity

The Elliot Lake Tailings Management Areas are among the largest 
uranium-related mine waste sites in the world. The close to 200 million 
tonnes of tailings contain thousands of tons of hazardous radionuclides and 
heavy metals. Those radionuclides and heavy metals will present potential 
human health and ecological risk for thousands of years. For example, the 
combined tailings management areas of Rio Algom Ltd and Denison Mines 
contain an estimated 25,000 - 50,000 tons of lead, 5,000 tons of cobalt, 
more than 1,000 tons of chromium, and between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of 
thorium.

Thorium-230 is the uranium decay with a "half life" of 76,000 years. 
Thorium-230 turns into radium-226, which is one of the radionuclides of 
greatest concern in uranium tailings. Radium is chemically similar to 
calcium, so if it is ingested it concentrates in the bones, teeth and 
breast milk of mammals (including humans), where it increases the risk of 
cancer. Radium, in turn, produces radon gas (radon-222), a carcinogen 
linked to lung cancer.


An environmental assessment hearing was held in 1995 to review the proposal 
to “decommission” the tailings management areas by creating a shallow water 
cover over the majority of the tailings. More than 90% of the work had 
already been completed prior to the hearing being held, which meant some 
options – such as returning the tailings to the underground mines – were 
already off the table. Performance since the environmental assessment 
approval was granted has been uneven. Great Lakes activists on a site visit 
the first year after the work had been completed discovered that the water 
level in the main tailings management area had been lowered to accommodate 
the spring runoff, leaving bright orange beaches of radioactive and acid 
generating tailings beaches fully exposed. One would have thought the 
spring freshet could have been predicted, and incorporated into the 
tailings management area’s engineered design.

Currently, Denison Mines Inc. manages the Denison, Stanrock, and Can-Met 
mine sites under two uranium mine decommissioning licenses, while Rio Algom 
Ltd. manages the Quirke, Panel, Stanleigh, Spanish American, Lacnor, 
Nordic, Buckles, and Milliken sites under a waste facility operating 
licence. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the two companies have 
all left town, satisfying themselves with occasional site visits and a few 
part time employees. The Serpent River Regional Environmental Committee, a 
local citizens organization with representation from the City of Elliot 
Lake, the Township of the North Shore and Serpent River First Nation, have 
repeatedly raised concerns with the companies and the federal regulator 
about the increasingly limited local capacity to effectively monitor the 
sites.

And it’s not over. While still living with the legacy of the uranium 
exploitation of the 1950s through mid-90s, the region has once again become 
the target of mineral exploration. And what are they looking for? Uranium.

Despite the very low grade of local uranium reserves (less than half a 
percent, compared to up to 20% in the high grade uranium reserves of 
northern Saskatchewan) the boom in mineral commodities in general, 
including in uranium, has resparked local exploration activity.

One company in particular, Pelee Mountain Resources, has been persistent in 
promoting its exploration activity in the Elliot Lake area. In May of this 
year Pelee announced that it’s advancing its project to the licensing and 
feasibility stages. Others, such as International Montoro Resources Inc., 
are boasting of new “hot spots” in the old mining camp, citing high uranium 
prices as reason enough to go after reserves that have been deemed 
unprofitable for decades. Ucore Uranium Inc., Rio Tinto Canadian 
Exploration Limited and Denison Mines Corp. also have active exploration 
projects in the area. Thorium-230 is the uranium decay with a "half life" 
of 76,000 years. Thorium-230 turns into radium-226, which is one of the 
radionuclides of greatest concern in uranium tailings. Radium is chemically 
similar to calcium, so if it is ingested it concentrates in the bones, 
teeth and breast milk of mammals (including humans), where it increases the 
risk of cancer. Radium, in turn, produces radon gas (radon-222), a 
carcinogen linked to lung cancer.


Uranium exploration spells trouble for three reasons. The first is that 
Ontario, unlike Saskatchewan, has no special regulations for uranium 
exploration, so both the exploration crews and the local environment are 
unprotected from the radiological hazards that mineral exploration will 
unleash. Second, Ontario’s mining regulations in general are very lax, and 
in particular during the early stages of exploration. For example, an 
exploration project can surface strip up to 10,000 square metres, or 10,000 
cubic metres without a permit as long as the stripped areas are separated 
by at least 500 metres from each other and are at least 100 metres from the 
nearest water body, and there is no requirement for remediation. And, 
thirdly, there is always the possibility that mineral exploration will lead 
to an operating mine, and history has already taught us enough about the 
hazards of uranium mining to know we don’t want to go there again.

Two recent developments might save the region from yet another nuclear 
incursion. On April 30th, Serpent River First Nation Chief Isadore Day 
issued a strong statement saying “no” to uranium exploration in Serpent 
River territory.

“"We have experienced a number of tragic incidents with respect to uranium 
mining
impacts in our community's history" says Day, "and we are determined not to 
allow any of that damage to be inflicted upon our people or our lands ever 
again." The community realizes that the short term gain and the economic 
benefit is suspect of being not worth the impact."

The second development, not as direct but certainly an important factor, is 
the dropping price of uranium. Prices had fallen to US$7 per pound in 2001, 
but a price surge that started in 2005 peaked with spot prices of US$138 
per pound in June of 2007. Those high prices have been driving a uranium 
exploration frenzy across the country, including in the Serpent River 
basin. However, prices had dropped back to about US$90 per pound by 
year-end, and the spot price this week is US$57.

The low grade ore in the Serpent River basin becomes less and less viable 
with each dollar drop. It may take some time for the speculative world of 
mineral exploration to catch up with the reality of dropping prices, but 
the best uranium mine is the one that never happens. If the current price 
trend continues, there might just be the outcome.

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