We were contacted by miner Bill Good in the fall of 2003. He works in northern Saskatchewan at Cameco Corporation’s McArthur River uranium mine ― the richest uranium mine in the world.

Good had worked with a crew underground when the mine flooded in April 2003. Six months later, he was still not getting answers to questions about health and safety arising from the mine salvage.

He feared that workers’ safety was secondary to saving the multi-million-dollar mine, and that workers may have been exposed to dangerous levels of radon gas.

The McArthur River mine is 600 kilometres away from Saskatoon, so we could not simply go look at the site and interview other workers. Cameco, the world’s largest uranium mining company with a sophisticated public relations department, politely refused access during our investigation.

The company also had a one-year headstart on spinning the message about what had happened. Given the distance to the mine, the story had been under-reported from the start, with Cameco controlling the information.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which regulates the industry, was less than eager about digging into what happened in the first 48 hours of the accident because it reflected poorly as its role as regulator.

We faced a tremendous challenge in figuring out the science of uranium mining. What are the protective measures in place for workers? What are the risks? How does someone measure whether an individual has been exposed to dangerous levels of radon?

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s final report on the mine flood acknowledged the questions raised by CBC’s investigation. Further, Cameco admitted that, in hindsight, it should have done what Good and the expert in the story suggested – provided protective gear in the first 48 hours of the flood.

Given its previous stance on its handling of the accident, this constituted a major admission by Cameco. The company has adjusted its safety procedures accordingly.

For access to the transcript for 48 Hours, please click here.

Dan Zakreski is a Saskatchewan-based reporter with CBC Television’s Canada Now.