SRC Failing To Properly Secure Old Mine: Ottawa

SRC Failing To Properly Secure Old Mine: Ottawa

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 14:42

A federal agency is ordering the Saskatchewan Research Council to do a better job of securing an old mine site in the province’s far north.

The Gunnar uranium mine ceased operating decades ago and is waiting to be decommissioned.

However, the Waste and Decommissioning Division in Ottawa says there is evidence to indicate some people are still accessing the site, including getting into old buildings.

According to the government, the people doing that may be exposing themselves to physical, chemical and radiological hazards.

It says barriers that were installed at Gunnar are not adequate enough to prevent access to the buildings and structures.

For that reason it is ordering the SRC to immediately conduct an assessment of the site to see which buildings should be taken down.

The federal division says this idea was suggested to the SRC at a meeting on December 10th, but it was never acted on.