A fallout of the coronavirus may be more uranium mining in the West and outside of the Grand Canyon. At least that is the proposed policy of the Trump administration, which is arguing that more domestic production is necessary to avoid an over-reliance on foreign sources.
Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan supply two-thirds of the world’s uranium, which fuels nuclear power plants. Only 10% of it comes from domestic mines. And given that prices are already low, it is illogical to increase domestic supplies — especially in environmentally-sensitive places.
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To that end, the Trump administration’s Nuclear Fuel Working Groupproposed on Thursday opening up about 1,500 acres outside the Grand Canyon — places that are now off-limits to production. It wants to spend $1.5 billion over a decade buying uranium from American producers. U.S. companies Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy are pushing the White House to do so, asking it to create a uranium stockpile that would buy as much as 10 million pounds a year.
To be precise, Canada’s Cameco and Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom provide more than half of the global uranium supplies. The French company Orano accounts for 13% while the Russian/Canadian enterprise Uranium One, Russia’ ARMZ Uranium Holding, the China National Nuclear Corp. and the China General Nuclear Power Group make up smaller percentages, all according to World Nuclear Association.
Read more at Opening Up The Mountain West To Uranium Production For Nuclear Energy Is The ‘Third Rail’ Of American Politics
