THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT l 1
feedstock of neutron-rich uranium-235, the essential fuel of
nuclear power and a vital ingredient of modern weaponry. Buried
deep under the tundra, the low-grade, 100-million-pound
Kiggavik-Sissons deposit poses no threat to the caribou.
But if it is mined, and tailings piles and waste ponds are created in the process, as they almost surely would be, the ground,
air, and water of this already treacherous place will be contaminated with radioactive wastes. Toxic radionuclides will >nd their
way into the ?esh of every animal that eats the vegetation and
drinks the water. As it moves up the food chain, radioactivity will
concentrate, threatening the food security of the inland “Caribou
Inuit,” a people for whom the caribou are still, in this modern
time, a vital source of food, clothing, and shelter. The Inuit people
living along the Thelon River and surrounding Baker Lake have
thrived side by side with the Beverly herd for thousands of years.
In 1990, not long after pitchblende was discovered in Kivalliq,
the people of the region voted overwhelmingly to ban outright
the mining of uranium. Urangesellschaft Canada Ltd., a German
mining company that had its heart set on the ore, packed up its
drills and bulldozers and ?ed back to Europe. Uranium at the
time was about $7 a pound on the world market. The calculus of
mining, milling, and shipping U O from Nunavut to Europe at
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that price was not much better than break-even.
But something happened to change all that. The planet began
to heat up, carbon dioxide became recognized as a global threat,
and before long the sagging, moribund, but allegedly CO -free
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nuclear power industry was reconsidered. A “nuclear renaissance”
was predicted that would expand global production of nuclear
power from the current 439 plants operating in 30 countries to
over 1,000 by 2025. China and India have each announced plans
