In 1934, uranium was discovered in the Uranium City area. From 1952 to 1982, Eldorado Resources, a federal Crown corporation, mined and milled the Beaverlodge site. From 1982 to 1985, the Beaverlodge sites were decommissioned and reclaimed to standards approved by federal and provincial regulators. Beaverlodge was the first Canadian uranium mining operation to be formally decommissioned. As a result of historic operations and the accepted environmental practices of the time, the recovery of the properties has been and continues to be monitored and will be monitored in the future.
Cameco Corporation (Cameco) was contracted to manage the property on behalf of the owner, Canada Eldor, and carried out monitoring and maintenance of the site. Since 1988, Cameco has carried out routine environmental monitoring, environmental investigations, maintenance work and targeted remediation around the 70 separate decommissioned properties.
Since 2009 Cameco has been preparing the 70 Beaverlodge properties for release from CNSC licensing and transfer to the Saskatchewan government's Institutional Control Program (IC Program). The properties have been released from CNSC licensing and transferred to the IC Program following a staged approach. The first 5 properties were released from CNSC licensing and transferred to the IC Program in 2009. In May 2025 the CNSC granted a release from licensing requirements for the final set of Beaverlodge properties. As a result, the CNSC licence for the Beaverlodge properties was revoked by the CNSC.
The record of decision, which contains the Commission’s rationale for its decision, is available upon request from the Commission Registry by contacting interventions@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca. Once available in both official languages, the record of decision will be published on the CNSC website. The submissions considered by the Commission during the hearing are available on the CNSC website.
As the final set of decommissioned properties are transferred to the IC Program, funding will be provided by Canada Eldor up front to ensure ongoing monitoring and maintenance is in place. Funds will also be provided to respond to any unforeseen event that may occur in the future. This helps to ensure that properties remain physically and radiologically safe, secure, and stable/improving, as well as pose minimal risk to public safety or the environment.
For more information please contact Victor Fern, community liaison for Fond du Lac, Camsell Portage and Uranium City at 306-686-2343 or check out a virtual tour of the properties below: