Here’s a look at Sask.’s role in uranium production as people flock to watch ‘Oppenheimer’

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to provide more context and clarity.

People flocking to the theatres to watch Oppenheimer have some talking about Saskatchewan’s role in uranium production.

On August 6th, 1945, the world was first introduced into the destructive power of nuclear weapons.  A nuclear bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Just three days later, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Japan surrendered August 15, bringing a close to the Second World War.  It was the first and only time nuclear weapons were used in war and started the atomic age.

From 1947 – 1991 the United States and Russia were locked in a tense geopolitical war. Referred to as the cold war, it saw both countries significantly ramp up production on their nuclear arsenals.

During this time the U.S. was in need of uranium. An isotope known as U235 is the main ingredient used for a nuclear device.

Craig Baird hosts the Canadian History EHx podcast, and he suggests most of the Uranium the U.S. used to build and test nuclear weapons came from Canada.

“We hear about people like Oppenheimer and Einstein or people who were actually working on the project but very little about our role in it.” Baird said.

“I think most people don’t even know the uranium mostly came from Canada.”

In the 1950’s Canada’s uranium mining was expanding. By 1959, 23 mines were established across the country. Primarily located in Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan’s first mine, opening in 1953, did not supply the uranium used for “Little Boy.”

There are two types of nuclear reactions. Fission reactions occur when heavier atoms like U235 have neutrons collide with the atom, splitting it and releasing smaller atoms and neutrons. This process also generates tremendous amounts of energy. Fusion reactions occur when isotopes of hydrogen are fused together. Fusion reactions require tremendous amounts of energy, but they also release more energy than fission reactions.

“That’s the process that powers the sun and all the stars in our universe,” said Michael Bradley, physics department head at the University of Saskatchewan.

“The stars we see and the sunlight we get is coming from nuclear fusion.”

While Canada’s uranium production was in full swing, so-to was the development of another devastating nuclear weapon.

In 1952 the United States started testing its first series of thermonuclear weapons also known as H-Bomb’s through Operation Ivy.

These bombs produced explosions sometimes one thousand times greater than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima.

“Massively more powerful,” Bradley added. “Fission bombs were already powerful but fusion weapons are more powerful.”

While Canada was the States’ main supplier of uranium, in 1959 the Americans’ need for uranium was declining, and by 1965 Canada stopped exporting the resource for weapons.

According to the United Nations, 2000 nuclear tests were conducted from 1945 – 1996. The United States performed just over 1000 nuclear tests in that time frame. Canada was a supplier for roughly sixteen years.

Saskatchewan’s uranium mines exports are used in reactors in Canada, and other locations across the world. Up until 2009, Canada was the largest producer of uranium before being overtaken by Kazakhstan.

“In fact, the McArthur River mine is the highest-grade uranium mine in the world averaging 22% radium which is 100 times richer than most other countries.” Baird said.

Canada’s uranium wasn’t just used for weapons. While scientists in Los Alamos worked to produce nuclear weapons, other physicists were working on turning fission reactions into reliable energy sources.

The world’s first functioning nuclear reactor was built at the University of Chicago. At the time it was referred to as an atomic pile. It was a pile of uranium with graphite blocks surrounding it to absorb the neutrons from the fission process.

Canadian, George Lawrence had attempted to create the world’s nuclear reactor in Ottawa years prior but was unsuccessful.

Nuclear reactors require a balancing act to generate power. fission reactions are started in the core, and control rods are inserted and removed to speed up or slow the reaction. In turn the reaction creates heat which generates steam.

“It’s not perhaps as scary as people might think, but it has to be done properly,” said Bradley. “Canada has a good record of doing that historically, we actually have a terrific historical connection with the development of nuclear power.”

In the late 1950’s and 1960’s, CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactors were first developed.

Like most energy sources, there are pros and cons to nuclear power. In the event of a reactor meltdown, radioactive materials could be projected out into the atmosphere, contaminating the air we breathe, water we drink and food we eat. It can potentially make areas unlivable for thousands of years. But nuclear power has a low CO2 emission rate.

Scientists are now moving to a different type of nuclear energy production.  The same process that powers the sun.

The cheats the fusion process with its tremendous gravity that creates enough force for fusion, but scientists on earth are trying to replicate it with a variety of instruments, one being a Tokamak.

The University of Saskatchewan houses the only Tokamak in Canada, called the STOR-M. It’s used to study the feasibility of fusion energy.

Modern reactors use uranium as fuel. When the fuel has been burned the radioactive elements still present a danger to harming the environment around them.

Fusion reactions use isotopes of hydrogen. The gas is released into the tokamak, and then ionized to create a plasma. The plasma inside of the STOR-M reaches roughly one million degrees, but to sustain a fusion reaction in need to reach one hundred million degrees.

To keep the plasma from burning through the walls of the donut-shaped Tokamak, electromagnets surround it and push against the plasma.

U of S physics professor Chijin Xiao believes fusion reactors are the future of clean and sustainable energy.

“In the process of fusion, there is really no radioactive material produced,” Xiao added.

Instead of using uranium to fuel fusion reactions, all of the resources needed can be gathered in the ocean.  The world’s sea water contains the isotope needed for the reaction, deuterium.

“They say one cup of water can supply a house for hundreds of years,” Xiao said. “That’s how much fuel we have in the ocean.”

Sustained fusion will never be achievable at the University of Saskatchewan, because its Tokamak is too small, but the research provides insights to further assist other Tokamaks around the world.

Canadian History Ehx, part of Curiouscast, and Global News are both properties of Corus Entertainment.