The White House has announced a new strategy to restore American nuclear energy leadership. The approach was recommended by the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group, a panel of energy experts established by the president in July 2019. The group’s mission was straightforward but lofty: examine the potential opportunities and challenges of reviving and expanding domestic nuclear fuel production.

Nuclear fuel production begins with uranium, so the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) Uranium Leasing Program (ULP) is poised to play an important role in the administration’s latest plans. ULP leases uranium-rich land to private companies for uranium mining in southwest Colorado’s Uravan Mineral Belt. Its strict federal oversight and renewed environmental standards mean the uranium sourced from program lands is obtained responsibly.

Congress must approve elements of the White House’s strategy for any activity to begin. Then, experts will select mines to participate in the new plan — and, if selected, ULP is prepared to participate.

In the following question and answer session (Q&A), ULP lead Jay Glascock breaks down how the program could uniquely contribute to the country’s nuclear leadership revival. 

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Q: LM typically oversees sites that were once host to the country’s nuclear weapons production. Given its focus on the past, how is the office involved in the White House’s plans for the future?

Glascock: To understand the relationship between the White House’s new nuclear leadership strategy and LM, it is important to first understand a bit about uranium. Uranium is a naturally occurring, radioactive element found underground in the Earth’s rocks and soil. Because it is radioactive, or chemically unstable, it can produce large amounts of energy when processed and put through a chemical reaction. This is why it has been used to fuel powerful nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants.

ULP leases uranium-rich land to private companies for uranium mining. The federal government then earns royalty payments on the uranium mined from ULP. LM manages ULP because the program was originally established to contribute to the nation’s Cold War nuclear activities; the office oversees many of the country’s other sites once used to support this mission, so it made sense for LM to preside over this program, too.  

After the Cold War era, mining continued through ULP until 2005. Since then, LM has been conducting annual inspections of the program’s land to identify and correct any safety hazards or environmental compliance issues. Last year, the program took the first steps to renewing dormant leases after a 10-year hiatus. The leases now include stricter environmental standards to protect the area’s natural resources.

Q: If mining via ULP has stopped, where does the country get the uranium it uses to fuel nuclear power plants?

Glascock: The U.S. imports 93% of its commercial uranium, with nearly half of this supply coming from nations like Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan.

Q: Does the new White House plan mean mining via ULP will begin again?

Glascock: The short answer is maybe. The strategy recommends taking immediate action to strengthen the uranium mining industry, which is the first step in powering nuclear activities. Action toward this new policy can already be seen in the federal government’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget Request, which includes $150 million in funding to create a Uranium Reserve that will provide assurance of uranium availability in the event of a market disruption. 

According to the White House’s recent report, DOE will establish a competitive process to determine the sources that will supply the Reserve, though it will begin with vetting U.S.-based services. DOE’s process will ensure that uranium for the Reserve is purchased in a way that best meets program goals while using taxpayer dollars effectively.  

The role of ULP is to ensure that a regulatory framework and administrative infrastructure are in place to facilitate domestic uranium mining should it begin again. Though the implementation of the White House’s new recommendations relies on many factors, including congressional approval, ULP is ready should the time come for experts to select it as a source for the country’s Uranium Reserve.

Q: What are some advantages of mining uranium via ULP?

Glascock: Mining uranium via ULP would benefit national security, the economy, and the environment.

ULP’s lease tracts contain 13 million pounds of uranium and 67 million pounds of vanadium available for mining — two elements that the U.S. Department of the Interior included on its 2018 list of minerals critical to national security and economic prosperity. The minerals on these sites have an estimated total value of $800 million. If the U.S. decides to focus on the domestic supply chains of these minerals via ULP, it will not only reduce the country’s reliance on foreign sources, but ultimately generate an additional $100 million in potential royalty payments for public benefit. It would also bring high-skill, high-paying jobs and economic growth to the local Colorado community.

Of course, all this activity would be carefully managed by LM to ensure that mining is done in a way that is environmentally sound and poses minimal risk to public safety. As mentioned earlier, all renewed leases for mining via ULP now require a detailed environmental assessment of the impacts of future mining on the area to ensure preservation of air, water, wildlife, and cultural resources. This feature also exists in mining arrangements outside of ULP; however, there is no potential for royalties to be generated from those operations. The program also requires its lessees clean up the mines to standards set by the state of Colorado when they no longer want to mine on the leased land.

Regardless of whether uranium mining begins again, the ULP team is prepared to continue its stewardship of public lands. This will ensure that the uranium the country needs is extracted with the care that the public and environment deserve.