Uranium City

History

In 1949 athabascaite was discovered by S. Kaiman while he was researching radioactive materials around Lake Athabasca near Uranium City.

In 1952, the provincial government decided to establish a community to service the mines in the Beaverlodge uranium area developed by Eldorado Mining and Refining, a federal crown corporation. In 1954 the local newspaper, The Uranium Times, noted that 52 mines were operating and 12 open-pit mines were next to Beaverlodge Lake. Initially, most of the residences in Uranium City were simply tents.

Some of the mines operating in the area included the Gunnar Mine and the Lorado Mine.

Two options were considered for communities in the region: small communities near the mine site or larger more centralized communities with adequate services. Not wanting to replicate some of the problems associated with small mining towns at the time in Northern Ontario, the government pushed for the second option and modelled Uranium City after the community of Arvida, Quebec.

The population of Uranium City started to grow significantly only once Eldorado Resources made a deliberate initiative in 1960 to see staff housed in Uranium City instead of the Eldorado campsite.

Uranium City was a thriving community until 1982, with its population approaching the 5,000 threshold required to achieve city status in the province. The closure of the mines on 30 June 1982 led to economic collapse, with most residents of the community leaving. It was later designated as a northern settlement with about 300 people remaining. The local hospital closed in the spring of 2003. The current population is 201, including a number of Métis and First Nations people.

Transportation

The community has a certified airport, Uranium City Airport, that features a treated gravel runway of 3,935 ft (1,199 m) operated by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. The airport is one of the few employers left in the community. Pronto Airways still serves Uranium City with flights from Stony Rapids Airport continuing to points south. Norcanair served the community with scheduled flights until it ceased operations in 2005. Transwest Air also provided a route with Saskatoon and Regina until that company cancelled its service in November 2008. There is also a small water aerodrome located next to Uranium City.

There is no normal road access connecting Uranium City with the rest of Canada. There is provision for a winter road which connects with Fond-du-Lac. Saskatchewan Highway 962 provides travel for a short distance within the local area. A significant bridge replacement project on Highway 962 was conducted in 2001 at the Fredette River.

Communications

Local telephone service is provided by SaskTel and was first available in Uranium City on 30 November 1955. Current telephone numbers for international calling are of the form +1 306 498 xxxx (NPA-NXX: 306–498, CLLI: URCYSK05DS0).

Canada Post continues to deliver mail to the community. The post office is located at the municipal office (Postal Code: S0J 2W0).

Radio broadcasting in the community is provided by:

Television service is provided by CBKAT operating on channel 8 at a power of 15 watts. This is a rebroadcaster of CBC Television service from CBKST Saskatoon. Until 2003, the local transmitter's television programming originated from CBC North.

Climate

Uranium City is part of the Taiga Shield Ecozone and experiences a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with long, cold, snowy winters, brief transitional periods, and short, cool, and humid summers. The temperature range is typically large due to frigidly cold winter temperatures that often plunge below −30 °C (−22 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in the settlement was 34.7 °C (94.5 °F) on 27 July 1984. Wind chill factors are prominent as well in the winter months, making the cold temperatures seem to be much colder than they actually are. Uranium City has recorded one of the coldest wind chill factors of any Canadian location, with −74 wind chill reading being recorded on 28 January 2002. Additionally, an average of 34 days a year record wind chill readings below −40. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the settlement was −48.9 °C (−56.0 °F) on 15 January 1974.

Education

Education in Uranium City is under the authority of the Northern Lights School Division #113, a school district that covers most of northern Saskatchewan. The only remaining school in Uranium City is Ben McIntyre School, serving classes from kindergarten to Grade 9. The school opened in 1977 and is named after the first teacher in Uranium City who established the first school in the community in 1952 with 40 students in ten grades. As of September 2005, 10 students were enrolled.

Secondary education was provided by CANDU High School, named after a nuclear reactor. According to travelers Vincent Chan and Tricia Holopina who visited the city in 2002, locals state that the school was opened in 1980 and closed in 1983 after only three years of service, with the building since sustaining extensive vandalism.

Notable residents

The following people are associated with Uranium City by birth, residence or career:

Larry McIntyre, NHL Hockey Player