Main: 48 Hours

The workers in Bay 12 of the McArthur River Mine spent a harrowing 48 hours fighting a flood that threatened to destroy the world's largest uranium mine in April 2003. A cave-in released water rich in radon gas into the northern Saskatchewan mine. A team of miners worked without ventilation masks to save the mine and their jobs.

The rules limiting radiation exposure are normally rigorously enforced at the mine, so much so that miners at the McArthur River mine stand aside as robots dig out the uranium ore. But that April 6th, Cameco declared an emergency that opened up the radiation guidelines, believing that the workers could work more efficiently without protective respirators.

Cameco says that the exposures were well below the federal limits, too low to do any harm, but the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is investigating the flood.

The CBC has uncovered documents that show that Cameco had been worried about Bay-12 for months, believing it to have a high potential for a flood. According to these documents, the company planned to have pumps installed but the cave-in beat them to it.