Radioactive Waste 176 - Wildfire Threatens Nuclear Waste Dump In Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Eldorado Nuclear Ltd (ENL), a uranium mining operation, shipped uranium and radium ore to Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada by barge from its Port Radium mine on Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories starting in the 1930s. At Fort McMurray, the ore was transferred to rail cars for shipment to the ENL refinery in Port Hope. The Port Radium mine closed in 1960.
In 1982, the Canadian government began a survey of sites where there was radioactive pollution. The roads around Port Radium were found to be contaminated. More contaminated areas were found around Fort McMurray.
The Beacon Hill landfill is located near Fort McMurray and managed by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Crown corporation that has the responsibility for managing a radioactive waste section of the Beacon Hill landfill. Day to day operations of the radioactive section are managed by the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) and the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office. The radioactive landfill section was created in 1992 for the purpose of storing low-level radioactive wastes which was the result of government cleanup of spills of radioactive materials that had occured in the area from the 1930s up through the 1950s. Radioactive waste was buried in the landfill through the 1990s and the landfill was covered over in 2003.
The radioactive waste at the landfill consists of low-level uranium and radium ore residue which is mixed with soil. The waste was then placed in a self-contained cell at the landfill which was then covered by a thick, low permeability layer of soil. A final layer of clean top soil covers the cell. There are about forty five thousand cubic yards of low-level radioactive waste in the landfill.
A terrible wildfire started on May 1st southwest of Fort McMurray. It is unclear exactly what started the fire, but high temperatures, strong winds and a dry winter all contributed to its ferocity. By May 3rd, it had reached Fort McMurray, destroying thousands of homes and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
By May 10th, the fire had burned over the Beacon Hill landfill near Fort McMurray including the radioactive waste section. CNL representative said that the fire had only damaged the grass above the radioactive waste dump and that there had been no release of radioactive materials. The CNL said that there was no danger to the public. Although the vegetation on top of the radioactive waste was burned, the soil covering the waste cannot burn. The AECL is closely monitoring the situation and will find and report any problems with the radioactive waste section of the landfill.
In view of the fact that over eighty percent of the homes in the Beacon Hill area of Fort McMurray were destroyed, it is likely that the Beacon Hill landfill will have to be expanded to take all the rubble and debris left over from the ravages of the wildfire. Fortunately for the inhabitants of Beacon Hill and Fort McMurray, at least they won't have to worry about exposure to radioactive materials.
Fort McMurray:
