In Utah, a debate stirs over Estonian radioactive waste
16/07/2020 17:55
By Valerie Volcovici
July 16 (Reuters) - In southeast Utah, nerves are frayed
over a pile of radioactive material parked 5,000 miles (8,000
km) away in Estonia.
Regulators are weighing weather a local uranium company can
import the material for processing at a mill near the border of
a Native American reservation.
Utah officials have no deadline for making their decision on
the license approval, and will do so after "thoroughly
reviewing" the high volume of public comments, said Jared
Mendenhall, spokesman for the state's Department of
Environmental Quality.
For Energy Fuels Inc UUUU.A , the shipment represents an
economic lifeline, after the company posted an operating loss of
$7.8 million for the first quarter. Its president in March
described the U.S. uranium industry as being “on the cusp of
complete collapse.”
But for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe living near the facility
- the only operational uranium mill in the United States - the
proposal has stoked fears that tribal land will become a dumping
ground for global radioactive waste.
Both the White Mesa mill and the tribal reservation are in
San Juan County, Utah’s poorest.
The tribe along with environmentalists argue that processing
the radioactive byproduct would mark a dangerous extension of
the mill’s operations. The mill, built in 1979, was only meant
to process conventional uranium ores from the Colorado Plateau
for up to 20 years, the tribe says. The Navajo Utah Commission
and Navajo Nation have also that the company’s application be
rejected.
"The state of Utah must recognize and acknowledge the
reality that the mill is far past its design life and no longer
a conventional uranium mill, but, instead, a radioactive waste
dump seeking to operate for decades, if not a millennium," the
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe said in a document submitted to the state
on Friday, the deadline for public comments.
The 660 tons of powdered material in question, now sitting
in 2,000 drums at a plant on the Estonian coast near the Russian
border, would be Energy Fuels' first-ever radioactive import
from outside North America. The powder is a byproduct from
tantalum and niobium mining by Estonian company Silmet, which
contains uranium. But it cannot stay within Estonia, where there
is no licensed facility for reprocessing radioactive material.
Energy Fuels says there is enough uranium in that byproduct
that it is worth processing. Opponents say Energy Fuels is
simply taking in waste, which would be stored on site.
"These feeds are important to the continued economic
viability of the mill, particularly given the current state of
the uranium market," Paul Goranson, chief operating officer of
Energy Fuels, said in an email. He said business from the
shipment would help the company keep its 70 workers employed.
WORLD'S DUMPING GROUND
Energy Fuels anticipates demand for domestic uranium could
rise, after the Trump administration in April proposed a $1.5
billion federal uranium reserve that would purchase uranium from
domestic producers. Such a reserve, however, would need
Congressional approval – a major hurdle.
The reserve was one of the main proposals to come from a
federal Nuclear Fuel Working Group aimed at reviving the U.S.
uranium and nuclear industry. The United States currently
imports over 90% of its uranium from abroad for its reactors.
The company has also asked to expand its capacity from 5,000
to 10,000 cubic yards per site per year, so it can accept more
“alternate feed” that is of “significant value” beyond the
Estonian shipment.
In the meantime, the San Juan County commission has joined
in resisting the license approval. In comments to regulators
this month, it said it "respects" Energy Fuels as a local
employer, but is concerned about the long-term impact of future
imports of radioactive waste without new regulation or oversight
– especially as residents are still dealing with the legacy of
other unfinished mine cleanups and water contamination from
existing operations.
"It's time the state of Utah treat areas near Native
American communities ... with equal consideration as you would a
metropolitan area, and deny the amendments and modifications to
the permit proposal," said San Juan County Commission Chairman
Kenneth Maryboy, a member of the Navajo Nation.
"The residents of San Juan County deserve nothing less, and
certainly do not need to continue to be the world's dumping
ground for hazardous materials."
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Katy Daigle and
Marguerita Choy)
((valerie.volcovici@thomsonreuters.com;))