Inuit residents reject uranium mining at public forum

As Japanese workers and scientists battle to prevent a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima plant, most Nunavut residents who showed up to a public forum Thursday night rejected the spectre of uranium mining in the northern Canadian territory.

Many Nunavummiut who attended a uranium forum Thursday night said they do not want uranium mining in Nunavut, while some even attacked the territory’s Inuit group for supporting uranium development.

More than 120 people in Iqaluit came out to the public forum, which was organized by the Nunavut government as it works on developing its own policy on uranium mining in the territory.

Areva Resources Canada wants to build a uranium mine at its Kiggavik site, 85 kilometres west of Baker Lake in Nunavut’s Kivalliq region. The company’s proposal is currently in the regulatory process.

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