Those watching Amazon Prime’s popular streaming series Fallout may have spotted a Saskatchewan-centric reference in the latest episode.
Episode seven, titled “The Handoff,” opens on a group of civilians fleeing an unseen enemy in a forest. As the camera pans down to below the treeline, a sign can be spotted in the far-left frame.
It reads: “Uranium City Internment Camp,” the text flanked by two red maple leaves.
While many viewers may have discounted the name as an artistic and fictional choice to suit the show’s nuclear-powered, retro futuristic aesthetic and themes: Uranium City is certainly real — and it’s in Saskatchewan.
Nestled in the remote wilderness on the northern shore of Lake Athabasca, Uranium City is located approximately 760 kilometres northwest of Prince Albert and a mere 50 kilometres from the province’s border with the Northwest Territories.
According to Cameco, the site was first discovered in 1949 during research into radioactive materials around Lake Athabasca. The town was later established in 1952 to service the nearby mines, and the community grew to include nearly 2,500 residents at its peak.
Mine closures in the area in the early 1980s had a devastating impact on population and today the community is home to approximately 200 people.
The town is only accessible by air, as it is not connected to the rest of the province by road — save for a provisional winter road that connects to nearby Fond du Lac.
American annexation?
For those unfamiliar, the “Fallout” television series is based off the long-running, role playing video game series of the same name.
The story is set in a post-apocalyptic 23rd century in an alternate timeline where a third world war between the United States and China climaxed with an all-out nuclear exchange on Oct. 23, 2077 — wiping out most life on the earth’s surface, while a small segment of the American population found refuge in massive underground shelters called vaults.
Prior to the nuclear armageddon, the U.S. and China were engaged in widespread conflict in Alaska, the home of the last remaining oil reserves in a world marred by resource scarcity.
In the story, the U.S. begins transporting troops to the Alaskan front through Canada. The violation of sovereignty eventually leads to the U.S. fully annexing Canada in 2072.
While images of an American annexation of the Great White North may be uncomfortably timely at the present moment — the plot point of an occupied Canada has long been established in the Fallout universe.
The first reference of Canada’s fate occurs just seconds into the opening cinematic of the game series’ inaugural 1997 entry, simply titled “Fallout.” The explanation comes in the form of a newsreel, depicting an American soldier summarily executing a Canadian resistance member.
The “Fallout” game series, comprising of five main instalments and numerous spin-offs, has been lauded for its gameplay, story, in addition to its satirical tone and dark humour — used in great effect juxtaposing the optimism of America’s Atomic Age with the horrors of nuclear devastation.
Season 2 of Amazon’s “Fallout” series premiered on Dec. 15, 2025. The season finale is scheduled to release on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
