Former Sask. uranium mine site deemed safe for hunting, fishing, province says

Sask. uranium mine closes WATCH: Orano's Cluff Lake mine closed in 2002 and work has been done to restore the land. (Video courtesy of Orano)

The Saskatchewan uranium mine site at Cluff Lake, operated by Orano, has received the thumbs up to be transferred back to the province after being deemed safe for hunting, trapping and fishing.

“All regulators are satisfied that that site is now stable and there's no major concerns with the site,” Assistant Deputy Minister of Resource Development, Corey Hughes told CTV News.

The site is the first modern uranium location for the province’s institutional control program, according to Orano’s CEO Jim Corman.

“A real exciting benchmark and milestone for uranium mining in Saskatchewan and Canada,” he said. “We’re the first operating site modern uranium mill that's been released from its nuclear license so that we can we can move the Cluff Lake site into the into the province of Saskatchewan’s institutional control program.”

Corman said the site, which started in the 1970s and ceased operations in 2002, had been productive for the company.

“About 62 million pounds of yellowcake were packaged and sent off to refineries around the world to support their nuclear programs. It was a great operation. We had significant economic benefits that then went to the province of Saskatchewan and great employment opportunities and business opportunities for people.”

After the mining ceased, the company spent about four years clearing out the buildings and reclaiming the area, he said. Since about 2006, Orano has been monitoring the land to see when it would be safe.

“We submitted to CNSC (Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission) about two years ago to revoke our license or to release us from the requirement to have a nuclear license for the Cluff Lake site,” Cormon said.

“CNSC will only do that when they are comfortable that the site does not pose any future risks to unrestricted use. So that was about a two-year process of going through those scientific studies and ecological assessments from the CNSC and the province of Saskatchewan, to convince everyone and ourselves and the regulators and the public that the site is passively safe and will remain so for the long term.”

Hughes said companies participating in the program, like Orano, are required to set aside money for ongoing monitoring and care of the area.

“There's a discussion and negotiation with the companies,” he said.

“We identify what the future costs of monitoring and maintaining those sites will be. So essentially it provides assurance to the citizens of the province that mine sites will be monitored and maintained into perpetuity.”

He said the province’s program was a unique one.

“This is one of a kind program in the world to be honest and one that has received a lot of international attention for being really good management of crown lands.”

He said there were about 30 mines in the program, but they were smaller and had been mined in the early 50s and 60s

Corman said the Cluff Lake mine had originally been seen as a 15 to 20-year operation.

“We had some additional ores that were discovered while we were operating the site that extended the mine life. But unfortunately, we did additional exploration work and weren't able to find the other ore bodies that would continue to sustain the operation.”