ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Uranium acid mine drainage

Uranium is a very special kind of rock that can be used to make energy. Sometimes, people dig up the uranium rocks from the ground so they can use them to make electricity. But when they do that, they sometimes leave behind a kind of water that is very bad for the earth. This water has something called acid in it, and it can hurt the plants, animals, and people that live near where they dug up the uranium. This is called uranium acid mine drainage.

Imagine you are playing in the sandpit and you find some really cool rocks. You know that these rocks are special and you want to keep them. So you start digging deep down into the sandpit and pull out all the rocks you can find. But after a while, you start to see that the sandpit is now wet and dirty because you have hit a water source. That water is not clean and can be dangerous.

Something like this happens when people dig up uranium. They have to dig deep down into the ground to get it, and they disturb the water that is alongside the uranium rocks. That water, now called mine drainage, can be very harmful to the environment. It is often very sour like lemon and can also contain harmful substances that can kill plants and animals.

People are trying to find ways to stop this uranium acid mine drainage from happening because they know how bad it is for the earth. But for now, we should be careful when we go near places where uranium is being dug up so we don't get hurt by the dangerous water.