Enviroment and Safety

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

Cameco is committed to environmentally safe operations and conducts a comprehensive sampling, monitoring and assessment program to ensure that the physical environment is protected. All sites operated in compliance with regulations in 1996.

Mining

A number of activities were completed during the year.

In co-operation with the Atomic Energy Control Board and Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management, a conceptual decommissioning plan was completed for Rabbit Lake, the longest operating uranium mine in Saskatchewan, which began production in 1975. In addition, financial arrangements were made to ensure future implementation of the plan.

A state-of-the-environment report was completed for Rabbit Lake to assess the physical environment around the operation and compare its current condition with the original predictions made in the environmental impact statements (EIS). The conclusion is that impacts at Rabbit Lake generally compare favorably with EIS predictions. A similar report was completed for Key Lake in 1994.

Also at Rabbit Lake, construction was completed on four fish habitat projects, two involving marshes for northern pike and two spawning shoals for whitefish. The areas were established to compensate for potential loss of habitat in the Collins Bay A- and D-zone open pits which were being developed or mined in 1996.

Fuel Services

A circuit constructed in 1995 at the Blind River refinery was successfully commissioned in 1996 and is now producing recyclable byproduct from the refining process.

INDUSTRIAL SAFETY

In an effort to improve overall safety, Cameco implemented a new contractor policy in 1996, integrating the corporation's safety requirements and expectations into service contracts. The added emphasis on contractor safety resulted in a 50% reduction in the number of lost-time accidents at Cameco's Canadian operations. Cameco is working to improve the performance at the Kumtor operation. A lost-time accident is one in which the time lost as a result of injury extends beyond the day of injury and prevents the worker from reporting to work on the next scheduled shift.

Canada

No employee at a Cameco operation has ever exceeded the allowable radiation exposure limit. At the future high-grade underground uranium mines, such as McArthur River, radiation doses experienced by most employees are projected to be less than one-quarter of the proposed allowable limit.

At Blind River, the refinery's 90 employees marked an outstanding seven years without a lost-time accident on January 26, 1997.

Kumtor

At Kumtor, the workforce increased substantially from about 1,500 employees in early 1996 to more than 2,300 in October as the project reached peak construction. Regrettably, during this period of increased activity, separate industrial accidents resulted in the deaths of four workers, one employed by Kumtor Operating Company and three employed by contractors. Intensive efforts continue to be made to improve safety awareness and educate all workers regarding safety practices, as the area is transformed from a construction site to a production facility. These efforts include increased regular, as well as unscheduled, safety inspections and holding daily and weekly safety meetings.

REGULATORY MATTERS

In March 1996, the Canadian government introduced the Nuclear Safety and Control Act in parliament. This proposed legislation is intended to replace the Atomic Energy Control Act. The new legislation is scheduled to be passed in 1997, with revised regulations to follow shortly thereafter. These changes are not expected to materially affect the regulatory climate in which Cameco's uranium facilities operate.

Under the new act, stricter radiation exposure limits will incorporate a formula that combines the doses of gamma radiation, radon and dust intake which an individual receives in a year. The resulting total must be less than the value of one. Cameco's existing operations already comply with the new limit. For the future high-grade mines at McArthur River and Cigar Lake, computer projections of radiation exposures indicate that during operations, most workers should have combined doses which are less than one-quarter of the proposed dose limit, due in large measure to emphasis on remote handling of the ore.

Cameco's experience has shown that this method of projecting radiation exposures is reliable and accurate and that remote-controlled equipment can effectively control these radiation exposures.