BLANDING, Utah — For years, the Energy Fuels White Mesa Mill in Blanding was the only operating uranium mill in the United States. Last week, the company announced it has commenced production at the facility and at two other locations in Utah and/or Arizona.
Energy Fuels is also preparing two mines in Colorado and Wyoming to begin uranium production within one year.
The company stated it has commenced production due to increased prices, supportive government policies from the Biden Administration, and an enhanced interest in securing domestic supply.
The United States has focused more on clean nuclear energy in recent years, with uranium being the central ingredient. Domestic uranium production has largely and continuously dropped since the Cold War.
President Donald Trump announced the lack of uranium mining in the United States was a national security issue in 2019.
Irina Tsukerman, a member of the American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER), said she believes domestic interest in uranium mining may now have bipartisan support due to increased trust in our country’s ability to regulate the industry and ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Utah is one of the few states that harbors most of the uranium in the US,” she said. “It aligns with the goals of both parties: environmental concerns, energy independence, and support for United States security... It simply works, and when something simply works there won’t be much room for political bickering.”
The United States currently imports most of its uranium from countries like Canada, Kazakhstan, and Russia – which is cheaper due to fewer regulations in those countries.
“Although nuclear energy is itself considered very clean compared to everything else, the storage of the waste can be very hazardous and it’s also very bulky,” Tsukerman said. “After what happened with COVID, nobody wants to be dependent on (another country). The supply chain concerns are there... Also, even if the environmental problem is in some other place, that doesn’t make it any less of a problem. You also have the issue of not wanting to give money for uranium to Russia – not a responsible actor.”
Energy Fuels disputed the representation of nuclear waste being "hazardous" or "bulky," stating all high-level nuclear waste that has been produced over time "can be stored in a contained area the size of a football and 30 feet high." The company stated the waste is monitored 24/7.
Although scientists largely believe in the possibility of a future that includes an enhanced focus on clean nuclear energy, some are skeptical.
“They keep telling us everything's okay, but apparently everybody here in our community doesn't trust it,” said Yolanda Badback, a member of White Mesa Concerned Citizens.
“Our health is more important than receiving money from the mill,” added Michael Badback.
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Other critics of nuclear energy point to incidents like the nuclear meltdown at the Chernobyl Power Plant in 1986 or the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan. Tsukerman said she believes those types of cases are increasingly unlikely to occur in the United States due to better regulations and infrastructure.
“It’s kind of like airplane crashes. They’re very rare compared to car crashes, yet people are more affected by them,” Tsukerman said. “I don’t see any evidence that we’ve had that level of problems here in the US.”
Over the past five years, Energy Fuels accounted for approximately two thirds of all uranium production in the United States. The company says it anticipates selling 200,000 pounds of uranium over the next few months.
"The government is not using the uranium produced at the mill for nuclear weapons, and, to our knowledge, the US is not producing any nuclear weapons currently," wrote Jackie Brown-Griggs, a representative of Energy Fuels. "The uranium produced at the mill is used to create nuclear fuel that reduces carbon emissions, reduces our dependence on foreign countries, reduces our dependence on coal, and increases the use of baseload power that can supply electricity 24/7 and is not dependent on weather patterns, which solar, wind and hydro are."