 |
Uranium products processed in Port Hope are used to generate clean electricity around the world. |
Cameco is a proud member of the Port Hope business community and an active participant in the Port Hope and District Chamber of Commerce. Cameco is widely seen as an employer of choice in Northumberland County. We operate the only uranium conversion facility and one of two uranium fuel manufacturing plants in Canada. Cameco’s Port Hope conversion facility produces all of the uranium dioxide powder that is used to generate clean electricity at Canadian-based Candu reactors. Approximately half of the electricity produced in Ontario uses uranium products processed in Port Hope.
Cameco Corporation, with its head office in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is one of the the world's largest uranium producers with uranium mining operations in Canada, the United States and Kazakhstan that provide 20% of global production. The company’s uranium products are used to generate electricity in nuclear power plants around the world, providing one of the cleanest sources of energy available today.
The conversion facility has a long history in Port Hope, one that pre-dates the advent of the nuclear industry. Eldorado Gold Mines, owned by the Labine brothers, originally established it as a radium refinery in 1932. Radium was one of the earliest treatments for cancer.
 |
Cameco’s uranium conversion facility in Port Hope. |
In the 1940s the facility was a key contributor to the scientific research that led to the first controlled nuclear fission reaction in Chicago. Eldorado was purchased by the federal government in 1942 when the strategic importance of uranium was recognized. The federal government owned and operated the facility until 1988, when the assets of Eldorado Nuclear and Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation were merged to form Cameco. Cameco became a publicly traded company in 1991.
Today the Port Hope conversion facility includes processing plants, technology development labs, analytical laboratory services and an on-site powerhouse, which provides all the utility requirements for the facility. Approximately 360 people are employed at the Port Hope conversion facility.
Cameco also controls Cameco Fuel Manufacturing, formerly Zircatec Precision Industries, which operates facilities in Port Hope and Cobourg.
The Port Hope plant was originally established by AMF (American Machine & Foundry) in 1957. Westinghouse purchased the plant in 1964 and operated it until 1988. Zircatec was founded in 1988 and operated as a limited partnership until February 1, 2006 when control of Zircatec was transferred to Cameco.
Cameco Fuel Manufacturing's primary business is manufacturing nuclear fuel bundles for sale to companies that generate electricity from Candu reactors. The Cobourg plant processed zirconium tubing, which is then assembled into fuel bundles at the Port Hope facility. Approximately 280 people are employed in fuel manufacturing bringing the total Cameco employment in Northumberland County to approximately 640.
Our customers are operators of nuclear generating stations in Canada and around the world.
