ELIM, Alaska—Roughly 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle, this Inupiaq village stands between mountains and the slate-gray waters of Norton Bay. Children yelp and skip through the streets, and residents race down open roads on ATVs. Elim is known as a checkpoint during the Iditarod, not a destination for tourists and cruise ships. Recently, however, the village has become noteworthy for something beneath the surface: Just 30 miles up the Tubutulik River lies Alaska’s largest known uranium