THE HUMAN TRAGEDY OF URANIUM MINING

Uranium is a highly unstable element, and uranium miners are exposed to especially high levels of radiation due to the uranium decay by-products found in mines. Gamma and alpha radiation emitted through decay pose substantial risks of genetic damage and cancer to those exposed. Although standards for acceptable levels of radiation exposure have been developed for the uranium mining industry, these allow higher levels of radiation exposure than are allowed in other areas of nuclear energy processing. Thus, miners are at a higher risk of cancer than other nuclear industry workers and at a 5-times-higher cancer risk than nonminers. Uranium mines and mills also pose substantial radiation risks to nearby communities. Solid and liquid radioactive wastes from uranium mills remain hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years, and their improper disposal has led to high levels of home and groundwater contamination in surrounding areas. The human costs of uranium technology make it unacceptable until stricter regulations and more effective technologies for mining, mill operations, and waste disposal are developed.