Uranium City, Saskatchewan
|
|
Uranium City is a village in north-western Saskatchewan, Canada. It is on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca near the border of the Northwest Territories.
Location
Uranium City is located on Template:Coor dm and 230 m above sea level. The village is 450 miles northwest of Prince Albert, 450 miles northeast of Edmonton and 30 miles south of the North West Territory-Saskatchewan boundary.
Population
In 1952, the provincial government decided to establish a town to service the mines in the Beaverlodge uranium area. At first, most of the residences in Uranium City were simply tents. With the boom of uranium mining, Uranium City was a thriving town up to the year 1982, with its population approaching the 5,000 threshold required to achieve city status in the province. The closure of the mines in 1982 led to economic collapse, with most residents of the town leaving. It was later designated as a northern settlement and now has a remaining population of less than 200, a mix of southerners, Métis and Natives who live amid the abandoned homes of the ghost town and nearby radioactive tailings.
History
In the 19th century, Lake Athabasca was an old fur trapping strait where explorer Alexander Mackenzie on his trip to the Arctic had traveled along. There was little or no activity in the area outside of trapping and prospecting until gold was discovered at the site later to be known as Goldfields.
In 1946 Eldorado Mining and Refining Corporation started exploratory work in the area for radioactive minerals. When in 1952 the construction of Uranium City by the provincial Government began, it was with the input of Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited.
During the winter of 1952 the first buildings were set up in Uranium City. Most of these buildings were hauled from Goldfields to the Uranium City townsite because it was a lot easier than constructing new buildings. During the spring break-up when the barges were operating the town grew very rapidly.
The government realized the difficulties of building on the north and tried to keep regulations at a minimum with the main ones being: all lots must be leased from the Crown in the first instance, although they will be sold and the occupant given title to the land; all persons acquiring a lot must erect a dwelling valued at no less than $53,000 within 18 months.
For almost 30 years, through the height of the Cold War, Uranium City shipped atomic fuel for bombs and nuclear reactors around the world — and piles of tailings and refinery waste piled up prior to the advent of protective legislation. It was no earlier than 1968 that health guidelines for radiation exposure were instituted, and environmental controls didn’t exist until 1979.
After the closure of the mines in the surrounding area in the early 80's, the town has been drastically reduced in population and services. With its deserted suburban neighbourhoods and abandoned mines, Uranium City has almost fallen off the map. As the epicentre of Canada’s biggest ever uranium boom, this northwest Saskatchewan town still hangs onto an elementary school, a regional hospital and a post office. Everything else, from the town’s recreation centre to the movie theatre is either closed or demolished.
The landscape that surrounds Uranium City harbours an unintended legacy: radioactive waste sites scattered across sub-arctic rock and forest, some 50 uranium mines and refineries within a 15-kilometre radius of the town. Of all of the mines, only one has been cleaned up: work on Beaverlodge, Eldorado’s main mine in the area, began in 1982 and is still being carried out today.de:Uranium City