CASPER, Wyo.—Federal regulators are planning a meeting here early next month to hear public comments and concerns about in-situ uranium mining.
Recent increases in the price of uranium have sparked increased interest in the mining technique, which uses chemicals to free uranium from the surrounding ore underground. Water holding the freed uranium is then pumped to the surface where it’s refined.
Four years ago, uranium oxide, or “yellowcake,” sold for around $10 a pound. It has jumped to around $135 a pound, with prospects of even higher prices.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversees the in-situ mining process. Faced with an increase in the number of applications from companies interested in building new facilities or expanding old ones, the agency is preparing a “generic environmental impact statement” to look at the effects of the in-situ mining technique.
Dave McIntyre, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulator Commission, said the agency expects so many new applications from companies interested in in-situ mining that, “if it all comes at once, there will be a resource problem.”
Preparing the generic environmental document will help to guide supplemental studies for individual projects, McIntyre said. “We want to get public input in case there’s something we haven’t thought of,” he said.
In-situ mining has been going on in Wyoming for several years and the state is attracting more attention from industry.
A mine north of Douglas yielded more than 1.2 million pounds of yellowcake in 2003, according to the Wyoming Geological Survey.
Powertech Uranium Corp. recently received a state permit to drill 155 exploratory holes to look for uranium in the southwestern corner of South Dakota. The company also has interests in Weston County, Wyo., just across the state line, and near Aladdin, Wyo.
But while interest in the in-situ technique is growing nationwide, some opponents have voiced concerns.
In New Mexico, Navajo tribal members earlier this year went to court to try to stop plans for planned in-situ uranium mining near the Navajo communities of Church Rock and Crownpoint. Some residents there say they’re worried about the safety of their water supply.
The lawsuit asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to reverse Nuclear Regulatory Commission orders in the past several years regarding proposals by Hydro Resources Inc. to mine uranium near the two communities.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Casper will be 7 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Parkway Plaza.
