A Hot Commodity: Uranium and Containment in the Nuclear State by Laura Lynne Pitkanen A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography University of Toronto © Copyright by Laura Lynne Pitkanen 2014 A Hot Commodity: Uranium and Containment in the Nuclear State Laura Lynne Pitkanen Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography University of Toronto 2014 Abstract Since taking centre stage in the development of the atomic bomb, uranium has been enveloped in practices and discourses of secrecy and (in)security that are material and psychosocial. The physical properties of uranium, notably its radioactivity – invisible and imperceptible to ordinary senses – have been used to justify regimes of secrecy and security. Yet these properties also contribute to a political, material, and corporeal insecurity. Of note, the secrecy and security surrounding uranium, and the accompanying insecurity, did not end with the Cold War. These trappings of uranium have remained evident in the political economy of uranium refining in Canada, yet their repercussions have predominantly manifested at the local scale in the small communities, such as Port Hope, that host Canada’s nuclear facilities. In A Hot Commodity: Uranium and Containment in the Nuclear State, I analyze how the state-owned and operated Eldorado uranium refinery protected its own interests in the midst of the discovery that the refinery had contaminated the small town of Port Hope with radioactive waste. I assess how Eldorado strategically drew on its powers and privileges as a federal crown corporation to secure its own political and economic position while foreclosing dissent. In the midst of contestation over the waste, Eldorado undertook strategic measures to ensure its own legitimacy as the cornerstone of Canada’s national uranium industry so that the refinery could expand and intensify its operations in Port Hope despite being implicated in contaminating the town. As the ii uranium refinery was owned and operated as a federal crown corporation between 1944 and 1988, this lens enables a historically grounded analysis of the relationship between the state and civil society, and how uneven power relations are maintained over long periods of time. My analysis of Eldorado shows how the nuclear state is conspicuously local – it was largely built through this one uranium refinery – and in many ways, this process transformed this community into a nuclear landscape characterized by dispossession, insecurity, anxiety, uncertainty, and sacrifice. iii Acknowledgements The Department of Geography at the University of Toronto was a wonderful place to pursue this doctoral degree. The faculty, staff, and students are outstanding. While I knew that I would be surrounded by brilliant scholars, I did not realize that I would also make so many friends along the way. These acknowledgements give a glimpse into this time. I thank my Supervisor Ken MacDonald and committee members, Matthew Farish, Scott Prudham, Rachel Silvery, Emily Gilbert and Scott Kirsch. I thank my supervisor, Ken MacDonald for the intellectual push, the energy, and the analytic rigour that he brought to our many conversations about my research and geography more broadly, and for his attention to detail in reading my work. Matt Farish has been a significant influence throughout my degree, and I thank him for his unwavering support from day one, his encouragement to publish, and his influence to historically situate geographic research. Thank you to Scott Prudham for his sharp insight into my work and for introducing me to several key texts, such as E.P. Thompson’s Whigs and Hunters, that continue to shape my thinking. I also learned more about writing through the political economy/ecology writing group UTPEWG led by Scott, and about academic publishing by working for two years with Scott on the journal Geoforum, an experience I very much enjoyed. I thank Rachel Silvey for support over the last five years and critical insight into my dissertation. I have enjoyed our discussions about conceptual linkages in our work, conversations that I look forward to continuing. I also thank Emily Gilbert for joining my dissertation committee and providing insightful comments towards publication. I also thank the external examiner on my dissertation, Scott Kirsch from the Department of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who gave thoughtful and constructive comments on my work and encouraged me to move this dissertation forward into monograph form at an academic press. I also acknowledge Sue Ruddick for her generosity as a scholar and openness in sharing her intellectual pursuits. Kanishka Goonewardena has also been influential and I appreciate his spending informal time with graduate students and participating in our (Capital and beyond) iv reading group. Being in a reading group was a huge support in graduate school and I thank Prasad Khanolkar, Martine August, Katie Mazer, Caitlin Henry, Patrick Vitale, Martin Danyluk, and Brett Story for critical reading, scholarly insights and friendship. Thanks also to fellow geographers and friends Jen Ridgley, Lisa Freeman, Paul Jackson, Victor Lorentz, and Heather Dorries for support and friendship along the way. I thank the many community members and others in Port Hope who kindly contributed to this research, as well as Robert Del Tredici and Peter van Wyck for their generous sharing of research materials. I thank SSHRC, the Department of Geography, and the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto for helping to fund this research. As I wrote my dissertation, I also wrote songs. Writing is writing. Writing songs on my guitars and banjo were a big source of inspiration and sometimes a welcome departure from writing text. My two bands, Adaptor 45 (with Lisa Myers, Niki Henry and Andrew Henry) and Long Branch (with Lisa Myers, Darcy Good, Sally Lee, and Don Pyle) have been extremely supportive and a big part of my life outside of academia. Rock on. Outside of school, my close friends Rebecca Diederichs and Sally McKay have also been a huge support. Finally, I could not have done this graduate degree without the love and support of my family and my partner Lisa Myers. Lisa offered immense support and intellectual engagement and has been a significant influence on my growth as a person and as a scholar. My life with Lisa and our dog Goose is wonderful. v Table of Contents List of Figures iv List of Appendices v Introduction 1 Methods 15 Literature Review and Theoretical Concepts 35 Chapter One: Port Hope: Home of the Nuclear State 62 Chapter Two: The Good Corporate Citizen 86 Chapter Three: The Home as Nuclear Space: A Pandora’s Box 121 Chapter Four: Black Wednesday: Radiation, Stigma, and Property Values 165 Chapter Five: On The Beach 205 Chapter Six: Failsafe: The Autonomous Space of the Crown Corporation 249 Chapter Seven: Them: The Nuclear State in Corporate Form 285 Chapter Eight: Into Eternity 313 Bibliography 340 Appendices 353 Figures 362 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Map of Port Hope. Figure 2: Uranium refinery in Port Hope, looking west. Figure 3 : Uranium refinery on a hot, still day. Figure 4: Mound of radioactive waste under black tarp on Crane property. Figure 5: Mound of radioactive waste and refinery, from East Beach playground. Figure 6: Mound of radioactive waste under tarp and refinery. Figure 7: Mound of radioactive waste near waterfront trail. Figure 8: Radon monitor disguised as bird house. vii List of Appendices Appendix 1: Acronyms Appendix 2: Eldorado Nuclear Limited Timeline of Key Events Appendix 3: Eldorado Nuclear Limited Fuel Chart Appendix 4: Eldorado Nuclear Limited Organizational Structure Appendix 5: Federal-Provincial Task Force on Radioactivity Appendix 6: Summary of FPTFR Clean-up Criteria Appendix 7: Eldorado Nuclear Limited Employment Data Appendix 8: Eldorado Nuclear Limited Uranium Production Figures viii Introduction A Hot Commodity: Uranium and Containment in the Nuclear State In his analysis of power and enclosure, E.P. Thompson argues that “historians have paid too much attention to revolutions and too little to the creation of stability.”1 Inspired by E.P. Thompson’s approach, in A Hot Commodity: Uranium and Containment in the Nuclear State, I analyze the stability of state power in spite of crisis. Specifically, I analyze how the state-owned and operated Eldorado uranium refinery protected its own interests in the midst of the discovery that the refinery had contaminated the small town of Port Hope with radioactive waste. I assess how Eldorado strategically drew on its powers and privileges as a federal crown corporation to secure its own political and economic position while foreclosing dissent. In the midst of contestation over the waste, Eldorado undertook strategic measures to ensure its own legitimacy as the cornerstone of Canada’s national uranium industry, so that the refinery could expand and intensify its operations in Port Hope despite being implicated in contaminating the town.2 This historically grounded research shows how uneven power relations between the state and civil society are maintained over long periods of time and may even intensify through crisis. David Harvey argues that the state arises out of civil society and then places itself as separate from, and even above, civil society.3 In this dissertation, I provide a thick description of how the separation of the state from civil society is maintained and how this material and ideological separation provides the state with power it uses to secure its own interests. I take the approach that while “spectacular expressions of state power are everywhere,” in order to understand state power, or state “effects,” geographers must attend to the “mundane but frequently hidden, everyday world” of state practices, processes, and institutions.4 The state as a social relation and See Appendix 1 for a list of Acronyms. 1 Comments of “Professor Plumb” quoted in E.P.