Uranium City
Uranium City is a remote northern settlement in Saskatchewan, Canada, established in 1952 by the provincial government to house workers for uranium mining operations near Lake Athabasca.[1]
The town emerged during a post-World War II uranium rush, driven by demand for nuclear materials amid Cold War tensions and Canada's development of CANDU reactors, with Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited developing key deposits discovered in 1949.[1][2]
It expanded rapidly as a self-contained community with modern infrastructure planned for up to 5,000 residents, achieving a peak population exceeding 5,000 by the late 1950s before stabilizing around 2,500 by the early 1980s.[3][1]
The closure of the dominant Beaverlodge mine in 1982, prompted by low uranium prices, exhausted ore grades, and shifts in global nuclear markets, triggered an abrupt exodus, slashing the population by over 90% and transforming the area into a near-ghost town with abandoned buildings and limited services.[2][4]
Today, fewer than 200 people, including many Indigenous residents, remain in Uranium City, sustaining a modest existence through fishing, trapping, and occasional mining-related activities, while environmental legacies from past operations persist under regulatory oversight.[1][5]