Radium Franklin was a tugboat built in 1951, and operated by the Northern Transportation Company - popularly known as the "Radium Line", because many of their tugboats contained Radium in their name, since they were originally built to haul Uranium ore from Port Radium, on Great Bear Lake.[1][2][3][4] She was retired in 1979, after spending most of her career hauling barge packed with ore, and then briefly serving as a yard tug.
In 2005 the Atomic Energy Canada published a stody on the toxic legacy of the mining of radioactive ore at Port Radium.[5] It said that the Radium Franklin and all other surviving vessels, with the exception of the Radium Gilbert, were uncontaminated.
The CBC News reported on March 31, 2019, that, after sitting in a dry dock in Hay River for four decades she was scheduled to be turned into a museum ship.[1] The Hay River Historical Society plans to restore the vessel's appearance.[2][3][4]
References
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Emily Blake (2019-03-31). "The Radium Franklin to get a new lease on life". CBC North. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
Built in 1951, the Radium Franklin towed barges on the Great Bear River and was one of four tugboats on a supply chain carrying goods to, and ore from, Port Radium.
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Paul Bickford (2019-04-02). "Old tugboat going to museum in Hay River". Northern News Services Limited. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
Instead of being cut up for scrap like some of the other vessels in the shipyard, the Radium Franklin was selected to donate to the Hay River Museum Society.
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Paul Bickford (2019-05-07). "Hay River Museum Society chooses leadership for coming year". Northern News Services Limited. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
The society is also looking to finalize the transfer to the museum of the Radium Franklin tugboat and a house barge from the Marine Transportation Services Shipyard.
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Paul Bickford (2019-05-07). "Hay River Museum Society chooses leadership for coming year". Northern News Services Limited. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
Williams noted several other tugboats will be cut up for scrap, including the Lister, the Horn River and the Husky. One tugboat, the Radium Franklin, is being donated to the Hay River Museum Society.
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"Status Report for the Historic Northern Transportation Route redacted colour" (PDF). Atomic Energy of Canada. December 2005. p. 86. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
Ships were used along the NTR to move barges loaded with uranium ore and concentrates (among other materials and supplies). Some vessels also transported cargo on board. Fifteen Radium Series vessels used along the NTR were identified in SENES (1994). Three were determined to have been scrapped, and the disposition of one, the Radium Cruiser, was unknown. Radiological investigations were conducted on the other eleven vessels. Only one, the Radium Gilbert, showed any evidence of contamination.