The ''Radium Queen'' and her sister ship the ''Radium King'' were built in Sorel, Quebec in 1937, for the

Northern Transportation Company Marine Transportation Services (MTS) formerly Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is a marine transportation company operating primarily in the Mackenzie River watershed of the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, and the Arct ...

, a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Mines. The ''Radium Queen'' was a cargo/tug ship that served on the

Slave River The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the Rivière des Rochers and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the ...

. It made runs between

Lake Athabaska Lake Athabasca (; French: ''lac Athabasca''; from Woods Cree: , "herethere are plants one after another") is located in the north-west corner of Saskatchewan and the north-east corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N in Canada. The lake ...

and

Great Slave Lake Great Slave Lake (french: Grand lac des Esclaves), known traditionally as Tıdeè in Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì (Dogrib), Tinde’e in Wıìlıìdeh Yatii / Tetsǫ́t’ıné Yatıé (Dogrib / Chipewyan), Tu Nedhé in Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé (Chi ...

which is generally navigable. The ''Radium Queen'' towed barges from the railhead at

Waterways, Alberta Waterways is a locality within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta, Canada. It is now a neighbourhood within the Fort McMurray urban service area along the west bank of the Clearwater River, south of the river's confluen ...

to a portage around the rapids. Cargo was unloaded there and transported by land, and loaded on barges on the lower river that were towed by the ''Radium King'', and later by other tugboats, like the ''

Radium Charles Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rathe ...

'', '' Radium Express'' and ''

Radium Yellowknife The ''Radium Yellowknife'' is a Canadian tugboat. Like other vessels built for service on the MacKenzie River, its tributaries, and Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake, she was first built in a shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, then ...

''. It was built at the Manseau Shipyards, then disassembled and shipped by railroad to Waterways. The ''Radium Queen'' was shipped first, and reassembled at Waterways, so she could tow the parts to assemble the ''Radium King'' downstream to the rapids on the Slave River. The parts to the ''Radium King'' were then portaged around the rapids to be assembled on the lower reaches. In 2005

Atomic Energy of Canada Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this ...

published a study of the toxic legacy of the mining of radioactive ore at Port Radium. According to the report all but one of the surviving vessels of the

Radium Line Marine Transportation Services (MTS) formerly Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is a marine transportation company operating primarily in the Mackenzie River watershed of the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, and the A ...

were found to be free of contamination, with the exception of the ''Radium Gilbert'', but whether the ''Radium Queen'' had been contaminated could not be determined, as she had been scrapped.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = https://www.andra.fr/dvd_radium/pdfs/Status%20Report%20for%20the%20Historic%20Northern%20Transportation%20Route%20redacted%20colour.pdf#page=88 , title = Status Report for the Historic Northern Transportation Route redacted colour , work =

, date = December 2005 , page = 86 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , quote = 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. {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vxaIWrR2LUYC&q=Radium+Gilbert&pg=PA36 , title = Highway of the Atom , publisher = McGill-Queen's Press , year = 2010 , author = Peter C. Van Wyck , page = 36 , isbn = 978-0-77358-087-9 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , quote = There is material leakage all along the sides of the Highway, as well as on the vessels and barges used to traverse it. The merchant fleet ''Radium'' line: the ''Radium King'', the ''Radium Queen'', the ''Radium Lad'', the ''Radium Express'', and of course, the ''Radium Gilbert'' ... and so on. The rest of the list: ''Cruiser, Prince, Gilbert, Charles, Scout, Yellowknife, Franklin, Dew, Prospector, Trader, Miner. 1937 ships Ships built in Sorel-Tracy Ships built in Alberta Water transport in the Northwest Territories Tugboats of Canada

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Water transport in Alberta