ABSTRACT
Uranium mining and milling technology typically involves the generation of large volumes of waste, called mine and mill tailings, which contain significant concentrations of hazardous and radioactive chemicals and are produced when the uranium values are separated from the rest of the ore. Uranium has been mined to provide energy for two dominant applications, nuclear power reactors and nuclear weapons. At uranium operations near native communities, uranium has been extracted for commercial nuclear power operations or weapons applications far removed from any direct economic or social needs of the residents of the mining regions. The human health risk assessments which identified the excess cancer risk for resident populations assumed that livestock were the only individuals drinking Rio Puerco water. The case of Navajo people living near the Rio Puerco of western New Mexico illustrates the diverse long-term impacts of resource extraction, particularly uranium mining, on native people.
