uranium mine opened in the Northwestern
part of Queensland during the 1950s
situated 3.7 miles 6 kilometers
away was the eponymous mining town at
one time
its population numbered roughly 1 000
and the community featured a school
post office movie theater bank and more
the mine operated until 1963
supplying the uk atomic energy authority
until Mary Kathleen uranium limited's
contract with the former was fulfilled
the mine reopened in 1974 and supplied
several foreign power companies until
1982
when the mine ran dry. It was
subsequently closed
and the town's buildings were removed
all that was left were foundations
a sign in the former town square and a
pit flooded with dank
green water somewhere along the line due
to various chemicals being released from
the rock
that water turned a brilliant vibrant
blue
as a result mary kathleen has a new
population of sorts
instagram users much like a similarly
colorful site near Novosabirsk in
Russia
the picturesque water in mary kathleen's
pit is motivating tourists to trek out
to the site in order to obtain
images that will be the envy of their
friends on social media
 
the mount and surrounding lands have a
storied history
during World War II explosives were
produced here
during the cold war uranium for nuclear
weapons was enriched at the Weldon
Spring site
this went on until the late 1960s
after the fact piles of Uranium, Radium,
TNT, Asbestos and more were left behind
ultimately the solution was to encase
the radioactive and chemical waste in a
large
man-made hill today it's a tourist attraction
The hill is officially called
the Weldon Springs site remedial action
project disposal cell
though it is also referred to as the
nuclear waste adventure trail
visitors can walk a set of stairs to the
top of the mound
which offers a good view of the
surrounding areas
given the flat terrain around the hill
the top is also popular with amateur
astronomers at night and bird watchers during the day.
From 1956 to 1963
the British Government conducted nuclear
bomb tests at Maralinga
a site in South Australia seven devices
were detonated
the largest of which was 27 kilotons
the late 1960 saw an early attempt at
cleanup in the form of turning over the
surface layers of soil
thus mixing them with the uncontaminated
soil below
22 pits were filled with leftover bits
of nuclear firings and capped with
concrete
it is estimated that these pits contain
a total of 8.8 pounds
4 kilograms of plutonium during the late
1990s
a much more thorough clean-up involved
the removal and burial of hundreds of
thousands of cubic meters of radioactive
soil
the vehicles used for this operation
were also buried
now it's open for tourism you can take a
bus tour of the Maralinga site
highlights include the abandoned
military village and airfield and
of course markers denoting the locations
of several nuclear detonations
tourists could also visit the pits where
the vehicles from the final cleanup were buried
Radon is widely considered to a harmful
gas
it is colorless, odorless, tasteless,
and radioactive.
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency and The World Health
Organization regard it as a carcinogen
despite this some people swear that
radon is a viable treatment for certain
conditions
such as arthritis as such a number of
caves and mines which people
deliberately enter in order to be
exposed to high concentrations of the
gas exist around the world
one such location is the Free Enterprise
Radon Health Mine in Boulder Montana.
The facility began as a uranium mine in 1949
but switched to offering radon therapy
three years later
visitors can descend 85 ft 26 metres
below the ground to relax in the mine
inhaling rate on rich air the
temperature averages 56 degrees
fahrenheit
13 degrees celsius so warm. Clothing is a
good idea
heat lamps are also available
This new excursion option comes on the
heels of ukraine declaring Chernobyl an
official tourist attraction
while tours certainly occurred before
that they hadn't been officially authorized.
around 85 000 people were believed to
have visited the exclusion zone on
October 2019.
day tours of the zone typically cost
around 100$
and now tourists can even enter the
control room of Reactor 4
the site of decisions that led to the
worst nuclear disaster in history
it's not clear what a visit to Reactor
4 control room will cost
radiation levels in the control room are
reportedly as much as
40 000 times higher than normal visitors
to the control room will have to wear
hazmat suits and industrial boots
they can only stay for five minutes and
must undergo two radiation screenings
afterwards
