Environmental Stewardship

We recognize and embrace our responsibility to manage our activities with care for the protection of environmental resources. At Cameco, our stewardship is guided by established policies and programs designed to minimize our impacts on air, land, and water, and to safeguard the biodiversity of surrounding ecosystems.

The following are highlights of selected priority environmental topics. Please see our 2023 Sustainability Report for more information or Our Performance for all indicator results.

Water

Water withdrawal graph
Total water withdrawal decreased by 16% in 2023, compared to 2022. This reduction is partially due to commissioning a new closed-loop cooling water system at our Port Hope conversion facility Note: Water withdrawn includes water we intercept and manage. The vast majority of water managed by our Saskatchewan facilities is intercepted as part of our mining operations through mine dewatering or from the operation of our tailings management facilities.

Responsible water management is critical to our business. We recognize the importance of preserving this resource for the Indigenous Peoples and local communities we share it with today.

We work with regulators, governments, researchers, and communities to understand possible impacts, develop best practices, and make changes that mitigate potential impacts on the environment. At our sites and facilities, we have robust water management and monitoring programs that apply to all withdrawals and discharges, and we tailor our water management practices to local uses and conditions. As an organization, water security is not a significant risk since we only withdraw water in areas of low baseline water stress. 

 

Learn more about our water stewardship

Tailings Management

Tailings are an inevitable byproduct of most mining activities. Responsible and safe management of mining waste streams is critical to protecting the environment as well as the safety of our workers, operations and communities. 

Cameco's tailing management systems and procedures follow industry-recognized best practices.

To strengthen our tailings management approach, we seek to apply lessons learned from industry incidents and are committed to continuous improvement.

We monitor the performance and safety of our tailings facilities through a range of internal and external reviews.

Tailings management is relevant only to our Canadian operations because the in situ recovery method used in our US operations does not produce tailings or waste rock. We have four tailings facilities in Saskatchewan, two at our Key Lake site and two at our Rabbit Lake site. Both Key Lake and Rabbit Lake have one active in-pit tailings facility (in-pit facility) and one above-ground tailings management facility (above-ground tailings facility).

Cameco assesses its tailing facility practices every year and every three years undergoes verification from third-party experts.

We employ broad, risk-based practices to effectively manage our tailings and mine waste storage facilities. We have accountability at the highest level of the organization, and systems and procedures that follow best practices contained in industry recognized standards.

Learn more about our tailings management practices

GHG Emissions

Cameco's GHG emissions
For the last three years, our GHG emissions have been lower than our 2015 base year due to the non-producing state of several of our operations. In 2021, we temporarily suspended production at our Cigar Lake mine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, further reducing emissions. In 2023, we had normal operation of Cigar Lake and had resumed production Key Lake and McArthur River but were not yet operating at historical production rates. In the near term, we anticipate that our GHG emissions will increase as we continue production ramp-up at McArthur River and Key Lake.st three years, our GHG emissions have been lower than our 2015 base year due to the non-producing state of several of our operations. In 2021, we temporarily suspended production at our Cigar Lake mine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, further reducing emissions. In 2023, we had normal operation of Cigar Lake and had resumed production Key Lake and McArthur River but were not yet operating at historical production rates. In the near term, we anticipate that our GHG emissions will increase as we continue production ramp-up at McArthur River and Key Lake.

At Cameco, we recognize the critical nature of the fight against climate change, and want our employees, customers, investors, and community partners near our operations to know we are committed to being an active and constructive partner in addressing this challenge.

Our GHG emissions are directly related to the type and amount of energy we consume. Cameco quantifies emissions following the globally recognized GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.

Scope 1

~129,000 tCO2e

Our Scope 1 GHG emissions are primarily associated with the consumption of propane and natural gas for heating. We also use diesel and gasoline to operate heavy-duty and light vehicles across operations, and relatively small quantities of diesel for back-up power generation. We release small quantities of GHG emissions from chemical processes during milling and from Cameco-operated landfills.

Scope 2

~181,000 tCO2e

All Scope 2 GHG emissions arise from electricity consumption and correlate to the emissions intensity of grid-supplied electricity in the regions we operate. Our main source of power for our northern Saskatchewan operations is hydroelectric. However, our location-based Scope 2 emissions use a single emissions factor that reflects the energy mix from the entire provincial grid in Saskatchewan and Ontario. We also report on market-based Scope 2 emissions, which means we take into account direct clean energy contracts or the purchase of energy credits.

Scope 3

Upstream  ~260,000 tCO2e
Downstream  ~240,000 tCO2e

Understanding value chain GHG emissions (Scope 3) requires companies to evaluate all the upstream and downstream activities that support their operations. In 2023, we quantified our Scope 3 emissions. We used the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Technical Guidance for Calculating Scope 3 Emissions to develop our inventory, and we have evaluated all 15 categories.

Our GHG reduction target

In 2023, we developed tailored decarbonization pathways for each of our operationally controlled sites.

Our 30 by 30 reduction target means that we will work to permanently reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 155,000 tCO₂e across our operated facilities by 2030. Under this target, we will also strive to achieve a minimum reduction of 30,000 tCO₂e from Scope 1 emissions specifically. This sub-target demonstrates our commitment to reducing the direct carbon footprint of Cameco facilities and maintain alignment with facility-based emissions reductions required by regulators.

Learn more about our GHG emissions and energy use

Decommissioning

Our commitment to protecting the environment and the needs of the communities around our operations extends to the full life-cycle of our mines and facilities. This includes planning for decommissioning and preparing our sites for permanent closure. 

Conceptual plans for each site describes activities required to reclaim the site to defined final end-state objectives, after the operating life of a facility. The plan includes a preliminary cost estimate for labour, materials, equipment, waste management, regulatory approvals, monitoring, and administration to carry out the plan.

At the end of 2023, the estimated future decommissioning and reclamation costs (total and undiscounted) for our existing operating assets is approximately $1.36 billion. To ensure we can pay for these future obligations, we have financial assurances of $1.06 billion (in the form of letters of credit or surety bonds to satisfy current regulatory requirements). The expected timing for these costs is based on each mine or fuel services facility’s expected operating life. Our required costs for decommissioning and reclamation in each of the next five years are not expected to be material.

Proactive reclamation at Cameco's Key Lake operation includes extensive revegetation.

Proactive reclamation

If part of an active site is ready for reclamation before the full site reaches the end of its life, we proceed proactively with reclamation work on that area.  For example, our Key Lake operation continues to undergo progressive reclamation studies. Our planned multi-stage revegetation process begins with native species such as mosses, lichens, and shrubs that create a suitable environment for the introduction of other native species to accelerate natural reforestation. At one of Key Lake’s waste rock piles, we have been successful at revegetating a portion of a covered pile through the application of local lake bottom organic sediments as a nutrient source and seed bank to establish shrubs, bushes and trees. 

 

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Environment and safety at our uranium operationsEnvironment and safety at our fuel services business