US: Energy Crisis Fuels Revival of Uranium Mining

[chlamor]

Energy crisis fuels revival of uranium mining

3 yellowcake mines in Colorado have reopened in past 2 years

By Gargi Chakrabarty
Rocky Mountain News

      DENVER (AP) — The rough and rocky terrain of southwest Colorado is once again luring miners with its promise of yellow wealth — not gold, but uranium.

      Three uranium mines, shuttered in the mid-1980s, were reopened in the past two years. The revival of another two is on the anvil this year. And many prospectors are scoping out the Colorado Plateau in hopes of striking rich ore deposits.This resurgence in uranium mining is being triggered by skyrocketing prices brought on by soaring global demand for the radioactive mineral.
     
      From trading at about $9 per pound in 2001, the price of raw uranium has nearly tripled and currently trades at about $25 a pound. Industry experts predict prices will climb to between $30 and $35 a pound during the next few years.The raw material is called yellowcake, a coarse reddish-yellow powder made up of oxidized uranium that is milled from mined ore. It contains scant radioactive elements and is put through various milling processes and eventually turned into fuel rods, which are used in nuclear power plants.
         
The price spike in the mined uranium is attributable to a shrinking supply of yellowcake as European and Asian countries switch to nuclear reactors for power generation in the face of rising oil prices and global warming.
     
In the United States, 103 nuclear reactors in 31 states provide electricity to one of every five homes and businesses. World demand for uranium will be 185 million pounds in 2013, estimates the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington. But supply likely will be significantly lower, at about 130 million pounds, said Clifton Farrell, NEI's senior project manager.
     

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600121138,00.html

[ztn]

1. that just smells fishy.

my nose is twitching on this one. I sense greater powers at play on these levers. hmmm.

[chlamor]

4. Nuclear PR Blitz

Is Coming to town. It's gonna be all dressed up and fancy this time around.

[SpiralHawk]

5. "Your friend, the Atom"

"We must stand together, the four sacred colors of humanity, as the one family that we are, in the interest of peace.We must abolish nuclear and conventional weapons of war. We must raise leaders of peace. We must unite the religions of the world as a spiritual force strong enough to prevail in peace We human beings are a spiritual energy that is thousands of times stronger than nuclear energy. Our energy is the combined will of all people with the spirit of the natural world, to be of one body, one heart, and one mind for peace."
- The late Leon Shenandoah, Tadadaho for the Haudenausenee (Iroquois)

[chlamor]

6. Why can we not get off the idea

of a technofix. Stealing thunder and the Earths Blood and all the Western Habit of Mind and its Big Science offer is the feedback loop from the technosphere.

How do we get the people to listen to Leon Shenandoah? To the wisdom of Winona LaDuke?

I have heard the story of the Amerinds view on mining uranium. perhaps you could post this, though I suspect there might be several. We see the world through a utilitarian and political lens. It distorts and limits our vision.

[purduejake]

2. Instead of focusing on sending a man to Mars..

Why in the hell isn't NASA working on some way to safely send nuclear waste into space? I'm not smart enough to know where to send the crap, but how about toward a distant star or something? Seems we should be focusing on this while heavily investing in the development of alternative energy.

[osiristz]

3. 3 yellowcake mines in Colorado

Saddam should have waited - We would have sold him all he wanted