China
Comment: Uranium groups are always waving the American Flag that they need to mine uranium because of security, now look at this statement which will happen to VA U if the ban is lifted: "yellowcake uranium made in Colorado likely would be sent to fuel Asian power plants"! The U miners do not control where uranium is sold, it will be sold to the highest bidder and not used in VA nuke plants! This time around for uranium mining is for pure evil greed! No to u mining and milling!
By Bruce Finley
The Denver Post
Posted: 12/26/2010 01:00:00 AM MST
If government environmental overseers grant a license to build the nation's first uranium mill since the Cold War in western Colorado, project leaders then would turn their attention to China, Korea and other Asian powers.
That's where Energy Fuels Inc. would seek financing for its proposed $140 million uranium-processing facility, officials said last week.
And yellowcake uranium made in Colorado likely would be sent to fuel Asian power plants.
Energy Fuels has hired a Hong Kong-based agent who is approaching bankers in China and elsewhere. "The product we provide is essentially totally fungible and can be used at any nuclear facility in the world," said chief executive Steve Antony. "We'd like to see it used here in the United States."
The problem: waste from mining and milling of uranium.
Uranium mills pulverize ore, then extract concentrated uranium using sulfuric acid — leaving heaps of toxic radioactive waste. Government regulatory hurdles are huge.
In Colorado, a Cotter Corp. uranium mill near Cañon City that poisoned groundwater still has not been cleaned up, despite 25 years on the nation's Superfund list of environmental disasters.
Energy Fuels proposes to build its Piñon Ridge mill in Colorado's Paradox Valley near Naturita, an agricultural area, drawing water from the Dolores River.
Opponents last week unveiled a consultant's study that concluded "expected positive impacts of the mill and associated mines will be relatively small," bringing about 116 jobs, "while the economic risks are substantial."
The study found that, after the collapse of the uranium industry in western Colorado during the 1970s, population growth accelerated.
Even careful planning cannot avert "grave consequences when something goes wrong at a uranium mill," said Travis Stills, managing attorney with the Durango-based Energy Minerals Law Center, representing the Sheep Mountain Alliance.
A state health department radiation unit is expected to rule on the permit application by Jan. 18.
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16943858#ixzz19Z1VTDOo
