A nuclear issue

Rio Algom and Denison must satisfy the AECB, and probably also the Federal Environmental Review Office, as to their plans for closing down their mines at Elliot Lake. The underground and surface plants do not give rise to any controversy: all equipment must be removed from underground, the shaft sealed, surface buildings removed, and radioactivity on the surface cleaned up. The question of the 127 million tons of tailings is more controversial: both companies seek approval of a flooded tailings concept, which prevents acid generation, and minimizes radiation exposure. Effluent would be limed, and also treated with barium chloride to coprecipitate radium