Uranium: Frequently Asked Questions

After extensive consultation with Mi’kmaw communities, scientists and the general public back in the 1980’s the government placed a moratorium on uranium mining in the province. That was changed to a full out ban in 2009 after – again – extensive research and consultation.

Nova Scotia has uranium. It occurs naturally in the shallow subsurface in and around the granite bodies that exist in the southern and northern mainland. Uranium is a radioactive (unstable) element and decays to lead (stable) through 14 isotopic changes over 4.5 billion years.

Radon is a colourless, odorless, radioactive gas that is released when uranium decays (or is exposed in rock or soil). Lung and throat cancer are linked with breathing in radon gas. Radon can enter your home through cracks etc. in walls and foundations and /or released when you open a water tap in your home.

There are free test kits available to borrow through your local library and in some cases through the NS Lung Association. Most building supply stores have kits for sale.

According to The World Nuclear Association (WNA) there is no shortage of uranium. This is what they say: “There is therefore no reason to anticipate any shortage of uranium that would prevent conventional nuclear power from playing an expanding role in providing the world’s energy needs for decades or even centuries to come.” https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/uranium-mining-overview

Canada is the world’s third largest uranium supplier from the mines in Northern Saskatchewan. The uranium from these mines is of the highest possible quality.

Uranium is on the Canadian critical mineral list, but it is not listed on the critical mineral list of many countries. Even the UK and France, who rely heavily on nuclear power, do not list uranium as a critical mineral. The International Energy Agency (IEA) does not list uranium on their 2024 list of minerals necessary for the transition to clean energy

Mining uranium poses health risks to mine workers. Therefore much of the work is automated, bringing into question the number of (local) jobs exploration and mining would provide.

Exploration is carried out by mining companies who are responsible to their shareholders only. The Nova Scotia government has already produced a “Radon risk map”

Besides, in 2019 DNR Executive Director Don James stated publicly that uranium exploration would have no added benefits in understanding radon risk and that exploring for uranium itself had no additional benefits in this regard.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/uranium-exploration-mining-energy-natural-resources-1.5295919

US Environmental Protection Agency stated: “Regardless of how uranium is extracted from rock, the processes leave behind radioactive waste. These processes separate uranium from its decay products which are also radioactive and actually contain most (80-90%) of the radioactivity in the rock (ore). The solid radioactive wastes that are left over from the milling processes are called tailings and the liquid wastes are called raffinates. Mill tailings and raffinates are stored in specially designed ponds called impoundments. The tailings remain radioactive and contain hazardous chemicals from the recovery process.” US EPA January 29, 2025

https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactive-waste-uranium-mining-and-milling?fbclid=IwY2xjawIsWLVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTtZ4Mf_oKp4tVJnKuRqN7D3Vt7naNLIQ

New technology is developing medical isotopes from “accelerators” instead of nuclear reactors. This new technology does not use uranium

• Nova Scotia is the second smallest province with the most densely populated rural areas.

• Saskatchewan is 651,900 km2 with a population of 1,250,909

• Nova Scotia is 55,285 km2 with a population of 979,115

• The Cigar Lake mine is located about 600 km from the nearest community, so pretty remote

• It is about 650 km from Yarmouth to Sydney with hundreds of communities in between. There is no remote area large enough to accommodate a uranium mine and no area far enough removed from a watershed

• Nova Scotia has more annual rainfall than Northern Saskatchewan: 1300mm as opposed to 400mm

The uranium in Nova Scotia is low grade. Uranium found in granite would be very difficult to extract and would be mined in open pits. There is also Uranium in sedimentary rock in NS. That’s the target of the River John site. These are so-called roll-front deposits and they would be mined by ‘solution mining’. Regardless, it would be very difficult for a mine to compete with the high grade uranium that is mined in Northern Saskatchewan.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s TENORM Report, “Water is perhaps the most significant means of dispersal of uranium and related [radioactive materials] in the environment from mines and mine wastes…Uranium is very soluble in acidic and alkaline waters and can be transported easily from a mine site.”

According to the Nova Scotia government website on Climate Change, the annual rainfall in the province and the frequency and intensity of weather events will likely increase in the coming years because of climate change. The area proposed for exploration and mining in The Valley experienced heavy and devastating flooding in 2023. The risk of toxic spills and leakage has in fact increased, because of climate change, since the ban was put in place in 2009.

The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) has released a fact sheet on the affects of uranium and radon on public health. You can find it here.

When you buy land in Nova Scotia, you own “surface rights” to your property. That means you own what is above ground. Anything below ground like minerals etc., belongs to the province. A company can lease the mineral rights to your property from the provincial government.
The Ecology Action Centre has produced a very helpful guide that explains landowners rights when it comes to mineral exploration and mining on private property.
https://ecologyaction.ca/sites/default/files/2025-06/Landowner_Rights_Factsheet.pdf