NUCLEAR GENOCIDE IN CANADA Part 7 Cameco (Eldorado Nuclear) "Last July's (2007) discovery of a small amount of loose yellow uranium in the soil under Cameco's uranium hexafluoride (UF6) conversion plant (in Port Hope) has added a disturbing and alarming chapter to the ongoing and ever-changing contamination saga. At a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) meeting earlier this week in Ajax, company officials revealed the leak from the UF6 plant has reached the harbour. To put this revelation into perspective, it is critical to note the saga opened as a near-the-surface, on-site contamination issue isolated to the north-east quadrant of the UF6 plant. Then one contamination plume grew to two, surface contamination was upgraded to groundwater contamination and the contamination travelled from nowhere near the fence line, to close to the fence line, then beyond the fence line and into the employee parking lot." (Port Hope Evening Guide Editorial, 2008) Cameco, and Eldorado before them, have contaminated Port Hope's air, water, soil and people with radioactive, chemical and heavy metal waste and emissions since the radium extraction facility was located there in 1932. Port Hope has had a longer and more intense exposure to a variety of radioactive materials than any community on Earth.  Eldorado Nuclear Ltd. was a company wholly owned by the Canadian Government. In 1988, Eldorado Nuclear and the Saskatchewan Mining Company were amalgamated and privatized to form Cameco. Despite the name change, it is still the same company, with the same disregard for human health and the environment. Eldorado was responsible for more radioactively contaminated sites and people in Canada than all other nuclear companies combined. Port Hope Harbour The Ganaraska River in Port Hope is internationally renowned for the salmon and trout that spawn in it. Port Hope had one of the most beautiful natural harbours on Lake Ontario. Today, the harbour is a toxic cesspool and an embarrassment to the community. It has been designated as one of the 43 most contaminated sites on both sides of the Great Lakes. The Cameco Uranium Conversion facility is located in the middle of the harbour in Port Hope. The harbour has been used as a dumping area and settling pond by Cameco and Eldorado since Canada started supplying uranium for the American nuclear weapons program in 1943. The cooling water outflow and the stormwater drains from the uranium facility both empty into it. This is the reason "the harbour is 25 times as contaminated as the tailings pile at a uranium mine" according to the study released by the Canadian Government in 1981. The Canadian Government was aware of the negative effects of discharging heated water and contaminants into the Yacht Basin more than 30 years ago. The 1976 Eldorado Nuclear Limited document titled 'Evaluation of Potential Sites for a New Uranium Refinery in Ontario' states: "It was assumed that the thermal discharge and potential waste streams from the facility would have a negative impact on commercial and recreation fisheries close to the site. These effects will be long term in nature." Lake Ontario Waterkeepers presented evidence at the 2005 CNSC hearings that Cameco's discharge to Lake Ontario was harmful to rainbow trout. There were 15,000 rainbow trout in the local fishery when the UF6 plant was built in 1986. Today, there are less than 4000 fish.  Welcome Radioactive Waste Storage Site Eldorado Nuclear started dumping radioactive waste on the highest point of land just north of Port Hope in 1950 in the town of Welcome. Shortly after contaminated material was placed in the dump, cattle started dying in the area. The farmers traced the creeks running through their properties back to the Welcome Radioactive Waste Storage. Radioactive, chemical and heavy metal contaminants were leaching out of the waste piles and running untreated into the creeks the animals were drinking from. The people living near the waste storage site didn't fare much better than the cattle. Three members of one family (Austins) died from leukemia. No doctor had ever heard of three members of one family dying from leukemia before.  Waste Pipeline to Lake Ontario To rectify the problem, the Canadian government built a pipeline in 1956 to carry the offending material from the Welcome storage site to Lake Ontario. This 'bluish green' cocktail of contaminants was dumped untreated into Lake Ontario until 1978. Many places along the pipeline became contaminated as leaks developed over the years.  Though some of the leachate at the Welcome site is treated, Cameco is allowed to dump unlimited amounts of uranium into Lake Ontario by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. This fact came to light when Port Hope residents discovered the pipeline broken at the shore of Lake Ontario.  Families Against Radiation Exposure (FARE) from Port Hope stated on their website: "Everything Cameco told the public about its broken pipe from Welcome turned out to be a lie. They said it wasn't broken. And they said "things are working like they should," even after water tests done by Lakeshore Road residents showed high levels of uranium and arsenic pumping into Lake Ontario." FARE continues: "After three months of Cameco denials that anything was wrong, the company has been ordered to clean up its act by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. It must repair its broken pipe immediately. And it must upgrade its water treatment equipment at the Welcome Waste Management Facility – to "control the release of nuclear and hazardous substances … into the environment," a CNSC letter informed Cameco vice-president Andrew Oliver on Oct. 17, 2008." The letter said "the environmental protection measures in place at the facility do not conform to modern standards and expectations." The down-side to having the pipe extended back into Lake Ontario is that residents can no longer test for high levels of contaminants. Joanna Young Joanna Young's husband started working at Eldorado (Cameco) in Port Hope in 1954. Shortly after he started work, he was sent to tear down some ductwork which, unknown to him was full of radioactive material. When the ducting fell, the material inside covered his body. He started getting sick shortly after and within a year, he was dead. His wife Joanna, now a single mother with 5 kids to feed, tried to get compensation for the loss of her husband. Her ordeal lasted for 42 years before she was paid. The Atomic Energy Control Board, the Workers Compensation Board and both iterations of the company did everything they could to prevent admitting that her husband died from his exposure to radiation. Port Granby The Canadian government also started dumping radioactive waste on a property at Port Granby, just west of Port Hope. The Port Granby Waste Storage site didn't cause as much harm to the land around Port Hope as it was located directly beside Lake Ontario. The leachate from the radioactive and heavy metal waste simply ran directly into Lake Ontario. Cattle broke through the fence into the Port Granby site and were found dead on the site the next day, possibly from the thorium stored there. Neither Cameco nor the Canadian government have ever revealed the full range of radioactive materials stored at Port Granby. Foundation Problems in UF6 Building On July 20, 2007, Cameco announced it was shutting down its uranium hexafluoride building because they found contamination under concrete slabs they removed. Cameco hid this information from the public for an entire week despite rumours going around town. The Port Hope Evening Guide contacted Cameco and were told nothing was going on.  It was revealed during the subsequent investigation that Cameco's employees had been telling management since 1993 that the pits in the floor of the building were being used for the wrong chemicals and substances, but Cameco never listened to them. Cameco removed the top two feet of soil underneath the UF6 plant. They said: "they could not go deeper than two feet, even though there is contamination below that, because it starts to threaten the stability of the building," said Cameco spokesman, Dr. Andy Oliver.  This is simply not true if previous information provided by Cameco is to be believed. The foundation for the building in question is pilings extending all the way to bedrock, about 50 feet down. The contaminated material can be excavated from one area at a time without threatening the integrity of the building. The only reason Cameco doesn't want to do it is that it will cost a lot of money to clean up and dispose of that much contaminated material. When I first became aware of the foundation problems in 2006, I contacted Mark Peacock from the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority to find out about the soil composition under Cameco's buildings. Mr. Peacock made it clear to me that the material under the UF6 is very granular (beach sand) which would allow for an accelerated flow rate of contaminants. The contamination may have migrated all the way to bedrock.  The following is the rest of the editorial from the Port Hope Evening Guide that opened this chapter on the need for a proper cleanup of Cameco's site. "When questioned back in August 2007 whether it was possible for the contamination to make its way into Lake Ontario, the company's (Cameco) fuel services vice-president replied, "It's not going to happen.""  "Well, guess what — it has happened. There are trace amounts of arsenic and uranium reaching the water; however, company officials say the quantities are not enough to be a risk and water tests have not changed." "The time has come for Cameco and the CNSC to tackle this issue head-on, not in dribs and drabs, putting out fires as new investigations reveal more problems at the aging site. The time has also come to quit making a distinction between historic Eldorado Nuclear contamination and contamination from Cameco Corporation operations. Does it really make any difference what entity is responsible for the contamination that is finding its way into the lake? It's unlikely the plants and fish, both big and small, make any distinction on the source of the contamination. Bottom line, this must be stopped now." "Another alarming revelation this week was the depth of soil excavated from under the UF6 building. When questioned whether removal of two feet of soil had rid the site of all its contamination, the company admitted there is still contamination below, but removing more would threaten the stability of the UF6 plant. Instead, the company installed a new concrete floor over the contamination, complete with chemical-resistant coating." "This answer is unacceptable. If there is more contamination under the building then tear it down and get it all now, not 30 years from now when the site is decommissioned. Surely some of the millions Cameco is expected to spend on its Vision 2010 plan to clean up and enhance its lakefront facility might be better spent on ensuring all the contamination under the UF6 plant is removed." "The CNSC is the federal authority charged with protecting Canadians and the environment from any harm that could stem from nuclear-related activities. Do your job." (Editorial, Port Hope Evening Guide, 2008) Harbour Contamination UF6 Building The 'little spill' Cameco originally reported in the UF6 building continued to grow until they had to finally admit that uranium and arsenic were leaking into Lake Ontario.  "The CNSC tribunal heard there are actually two plumes of contaminated groundwater coming from the UF6 plant - one heading east and another heading south and then turning east. The plume that edges along the harbour contains arsenic as well as uranium. The contamination could have been going on for 10 to 20 years. It's been since Cameco took over the plant. In other words it's been on your watch." (Dr. Christopher Barnes, CNSC Commissioner ) "The leak from Cameco's uranium hexafluoride (UF6) plant has reached the harbour, federal nuclear regulators were told on May 14, in Ajax. "If this has been going on for decades it could have been contaminating the harbour and who knows what else," said Dr. Christopher Barnes, a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) tribunal member." (Northumberland News, Jennifer O'Meara - May 15, 2008) Cameco satisfied the CNSC cleanup requirements by agreeing to remove the top two feet of soil inside the UF6 building. This is despite the fact that Cameco admitted the contamination goes much deeper. In which case, uranium and arsenic will continue to seep into Lake Ontario. Harbour Contamination UO2 Building Cameco told Port Hope Council on Dec. 16 that a leak was found November 4, 2008 under the UO2 (uranium dioxide) plant allowing uranium and arsenic to enter Lake Ontario. Cameco General Manager, Andy Thorne told Council: "This leak has been contributing to the historical and recent contamination of the soils at Cameco's Port Hope Conversion Facility. A yellow stain led to the discovery of the leak under the main sump near the eastern wall of the UO2 building and on Nov. 5, excavation took place to remove 17.5 cubic metres of contaminated soil." (Northumberland Today Dec. 17, 2008)  Why did Cameco wait six weeks to inform the public about the problem? This was the third leak of uranium and arsenic into Lake Ontario that Cameco reported in less than six months. Both of their main production buildings and their waste disposal site are contaminating Port Hope's harbour. What will it take for the CNSC to realize this facility has to be shut down to protect Port Hope residents and the environment they live in. Faulty Fuel Rods 3000 fuel rods were quarantined at Bruce Power in 2008 while an investigation was carried out to find the cause of faulty fuel rods. The two possible reasons given for the damage are both troubling. If water was leaking onto to the fuel rods at Zircatec (owned by Cameco), a potential for a criticality accident exists depending on the enrichment level of uranium. If it was a case of the wrong uranium being inserted into the fuel rod, the potential would exist for damage to the reactor core. Either scenario could have caused a major accident. Fluorine Spill On January 20, 2009, Cameco informed Port Hope Council that they vented fluorine into the environment on September 27, 2008, as a result of a gasket failure in their uranium hexafluoride plant in Port Hope. "The September monthly air test results exceeded the Ministry of the Environment limit. The hydrogen fluoride levels in the air went almost as high as 114 grams of hydrogen fluoride per hour." "Fluorine is the most reactive and electronegative of all elements. It is a pale yellow, corrosive gas, which reacts with most organic and inorganic substances. Fluorine and its compounds are used in producing uranium." (January 22, 2009, Port Hope Evening Guide) The four-month delay in reporting contamination prevented community members and environmental groups from doing independent testing to find out the true scope of the spill.  McArthur River Uranium Mine On April 6, 2003, Cameco's McArthur River uranium mine suffered a cave-in and flood of radioactive water. The miners who were sent in to try to save the mine worked without respirators or radiation suits for the first 48 hours. According to Bill Good, one of the first miners sent in: "the mine's radiation alarm kept going off, but the radiation technician merely re-set the alarm, assuring them that everything was fine. He'd just go over and turn it off, and on. And then it would go green and then ten minutes later it would be red again." The alarm normally turns red when radon levels rise above 1pCi/L. However, radon levels in the first 48 hours went as high as 44 pCi/L.  "According to Keewatin Visions, a miners' group, CNSC staff were at the mine site within a few days of the event, but they did not go underground. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission intervened after 48 hours of work, and told Cameco they would have to protect their workers. Miners wearing the protective gear continued to work on the mine for months, and by July 2003, the mine was back in business." (Jamie Kneen, Mining Watch) "Cameco representatives admitted that consultants' reports had warned of the possibility of a cave-in and major 'inflow' and that they had inadequate pumping and water treatement capacity and no contingency plans. They also admitted that their internal geology and engineering used non-standard methodology and therefore couldn't be analysed and compared to standard mine practice. Cameco's excuse is that they had mined in the danger zone before, and they thought they could continue without taking precautions like installing extra pumping capacity or preventive measures like freezing the ore before drilling into it." (Jamie Kneen, Mining Watch) System Improvements Inc. a consultant hired by Cameco, stated: "If effective ground support had been in place on April 6, 2003, the ground would not have failed and the water inflow could not have occurred." The report also said that Cameco had been repeatedly warned by their Chief geologist, the mine superintendent and contract workers about the potential dangers from water hazards right up until the accident happened. Cigar Lake During the nuclear regulators' December hearing, nuclear commission member Christopher Barnes, a geologist, admonished Cameco officials for the Cigar Lake accident. "My concern is that you're developing a mine here without adequate geologic, geotechnical, hydrogeologic knowledge; and when events like this one — or the one at McArthur River — take place, they put workers in considerable jeopardy," he said. Barnes also criticized company officials three years earlier during a hearing on the McArthur River accident. "When you put the pieces together, they build a story of really fundamental issues about the competence of the company," he said in April 2003. Another flood at Cigar Lake in April 2006 knocked out a secondary shaft that remains underwater. A company report on the accident that was due in February hasn't been filed with regulators yet. The setbacks are prompting Canadian regulators to question Cameco's ability to master the daunting geology of northern Saskatchewan's uranium-rich, water-laden Athabasca Basin. Wyoming Uranium Mine Cameco's Smith-Highland Ranch uranium mine in Wyoming was issued Notice of Violations by Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for what they state is "an alarming number of environmental violations" including delayed restoration of groundwater, about 80 spills containing uranium, radium and selenium, and a seriously inadequate bond to cover restoration. The DEQ report concluded that: "the mine routinely extends production times for some well fields. 'Well Field C', for example, was in production for 10 years instead of the planned one to three years. Underground water restoration is supposed to occur simultaneously with ongoing production, but that rarely happens at the mine, according to the report. Production and restoration time frames have doubled and tripled, yet the mine still proposes to bring additional well fields into production." (Dustin Bleizeffer, Star-Tribune, April 4, 2008) DEQ Director John Cora said: "it was an anonymous tip that prompted then DEQ land quality administrator Rick Chancellor to conduct an investigation of the Smith-Highland Ranch uranium mine. It was unfortunate that it took a high-level investigation to bring the alleged scope of violations at the Smith-Highland Ranch mine to light." (Dustin Bleizeffer, Star-Tribune, April 4, 2008) Uranium Mine, Crawford Nebraska Cameco, which owns an In Situ Leach (ISL) mine near Crawford Nebraska, have again been accused of contaminating drinking water sources with Arsenic, Radium, Thorium, and heavy metals due to the mixing of the mined water with community groundwater. ISL mines owned by Cameco have already been convicted and fined for causing major spills and permit violations in Wyoming ($1.4 million) and Nebraska ($100,000) ISL uranium mining involves massive pumping of oxygenated water into aquifers to dissolve and strip uranium from sandstone particles at the bottom of the aquifer. The process removes most of the uranium and then pumps toxic water back into the aquifer where it can mix with drinking water aquifers, rivers and streams. The mined water is then stored above ground in evaporation ponds or dumped into a deep disposal well under the drinking water aquifer. "Plaintiffs said that threats to public health and safety exist due to the faults and fractures that link the mining site and drinking water aquifers and that the license application is missing key information, such as the fact that the Crow Butte mine is wholly-owned by a Canadian corporation and that foreign ownership of the mine is not allowed by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954." (Alex White Plume, Dec.3, 2008) "Here at Pine Ridge, we have widespread Arsenic contamination and a rate of diabetes 800 times the national average, so it is clear to me that we have to continue to fight to make the water safe for our children and grandchildren." (Alex White Plume, Dec.3, 2008) Kumtor Operating Company Kumtor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada's Cameco Corp. that has been operating the Kumtor Mine in Kyrgyzstan since 1997. The mine and Cameco have been under attack because of a series of accidents and spills that have caused harm to people and the environment. The mine is located at 4000 metres elevation, on permafrost, in an earthquake zone. On May 20, 1998, a truck from the mine spilled two tons of cyanide into the Barskoon River. Up to four people died, 2,600 people sought treatment for rashes, sores and other ailments, and more than 1,000 were hospitalized. Cameco refused to release its emergency response plan to scrutiny. Kumtor did not report the Barskoon incident for several hours which allowed the cyanide to flow far downstream. If the company had acted quickly, fewer people would have been sickened and hospitalized. Subsequent impact studies have shown that the mortality and morbidity rates in the Barskoon area have risen dramatically compared with previous years. The spill also caused economic losses from contaminated produce and the decline in tourism at Lake Issyk Kul. The Kumtor mine was also the site of a 70 litre spill of nitric acid in July 1998 and in January 2000, a mine truck dumped 1.65 tons of ammonium nitrate. On July 8, 2002, a local man died at the mine when a 200 metre high pit wall collapsed and buried him. Local citizens and environmental groups are concerned about further accidents and damage to the environment due to the unstable region the mine is located in and the mine's poor safety record. "Local civic and international environmental groups have long pressed the company to open access to the mine and publicly release key documents, including its emergency response plans, environmental and safety monitoring data, studies on the impact of mine tailings on local streams and rivers, and its plans for cleaning up the site when production was expected to end around 2008." "It is in that context that the July 8 accident has again raised concerns. The mine wall collapse means there could be something very wrong with [the company's] geological studies around the mine. And if that's the case, what else is wrong? If the tailings dam [where the cyanide-processed waste is stored] had collapsed, this could have been catastrophic." (Jim Lobe, 2002, Mining Watch) Search articles by Jim Lobe and Mining Watch Canada for further information on Cameco's activities at the Kumtor Mine in Kyrgyzstan. Alice Springs, Australia Cameco announced its intentions to try to locate uranium mines near Alice Springs Australia in 2008. Relations between Cameco and the community have not gone well to date. Once again, the point of contention is Cameco's refusal to answer questions from the people who will be most affected by the mine. In the incident below, Cameco called the police on a group of mothers and pre-schoolers who went to their office to get questions answered. "We had a very eventful morning today at our regular Pram Jam. Pram Jam is a monthly family-friendly peaceful demonstration to voice our concerns about uranium exploration at Angela/ Pamela (Alice Springs, Australia). We are a group of usually 20 mums and dads and that many again of babies and young pre-school children. We visit local MP offices etc (and Cameco for the first time today) jamming the prams into the offices and asking questions."  "We visited the Cameco office today and met with intense resistance and rudeness from the PR people there, and they even called the cops on us! They wouldn't talk to us with children in our arms, demanded that we leave and belittled us. They have even put in a complaint to the police against our spokesperson for the action." (Families For A Nuclear Free Future, Australia, March 15, 2009) I'm sure Cameco is feeling some frustration as more people become aware of their 'track record' of contamination. With global communication as it is today, little effort is required for communities in Canada to inform groups in Australia about Cameco's impact on the environment and people they come in contact with.  Depleted Uranium Munitions Cameco manufactured many depleted uranium products in its metal fabricating building in Port Hope. The list of components included ballast for aircraft, armament for military vehicles and some components of the shells themselves. Cameco and the CNSC both refuse to reveal the full extent of Cameco's involvement with supplying depleted uranium components to the Americans. In Closing This is by no means a complete list of significant events for which Cameco is responsible. Individual communities have longer lists than I've included here. The large number of events reported in Port Hope is a result of a number of dedicated people continually exposing new abuses.  Community residents are the only defense we have against the greed of the corporation and the corruption within the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Health Canada's Radiological division. Cameco is one of the three majority owners of Bruce Power. End of Part 7