The dirty facts about uranium mining

Uranium mining is associated with pollution of surface and groundwater with radionuclides, toxic heavy metals and more conventional pollutants. In fact, Environment Canada and Health Canada have determined that the effluent from uranium mines and mills meets the definition of a toxic substance for the purposes of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
Uranium mining and milling operations are also associated with the release into the atmosphere of radionuclides, volatile organic compounds, smog and acid rain precursors, and greenhouse gases. Fish, wildlife and plants in the vicinity of uranium mines have been contaminated by radioactive materials, principally contained in wind-blown dust from mine sites, to the point of posting significant health risks to consumers of certain types of “country” food.

Existing uranium mines and mills in Canada produce more than 600,000 tonnes of tailings and up to 18 million tonnes of waste rock that is radioactive and conventionally hazardous. These wastes will require care virtually forever, with the result that uranium mine waste-storage facilities have been described as “perpetual environmental hazards.”

Toronto Star