Uranium mining legacies remediation and renaissance development: an international overview

Abstract

The uranium mining industry has a record of environmental management that has been very variable over the past 50 years. Although there have been examples of good remediation in some countries, sadly there are many examples of poor or no remediation that remain as a legacy from former times. As the industry is going through a renaissance interest in remediating such legacy sites is increasing significantly. This paper provides a brief overview of some remediation activities at legacy sites in various regions of the world and how international organisations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, national regulating authorities and the mining companies are working together to address these very important matters in a number of locations.