(December 18, 1998) At the end of 1998, the uranium spot price is rapidly falling towards its all-time low: Uranium Exchange Co. reported US$8.75 per lb U3O8 on December 7, 1998. This figure is not very meaningful, however, since only low volumes are traded on the spot market now.
(504.4963) Peter Diehl - The uranium production from mines at present supplies only about 60% of consumption. Other sources of uranium entering the market stem from various stockpiles:
An improvement of the uranium market in the near future is not very likely. While International Nuclear Inc. sees prices beginning to rise after 2003, Ron Shani of IAEA says: "Even the gloomiest of industry projections indicate at least a small uranium market through 2050." [NF October 19, 1998, p.16/12]
One of the consequences of the weak uranium market is a beginning concentration process in the uranium industry:
Another impact of the weak uranium market are shutdowns and capacity reductions of existing uranium mines and suspensions of uranium mining projects:
International Uranium Corp. (IUC) is pursuing another way to survive under the current conditions: The processing of alternate feed at its White Mesa mill in Utah. In 1998, the processing of uranium-contaminated material from the Blind River refinery and the Port Hope conversion plant in Ontario, and from the Tonawanda nuclear weapons production site in New York were licensed. After recovery of the uranium, the processing wastes are being dumped on the mill's tailings pile, a matter of concern for Utah residents.
New projects
Most new uranium mining projects being developed at present are low-cost mines, either for their extraordinary high ore grades (as in Saskatchewan, Canada), or for their amenability to the in-situ leaching technique (as in US and Australia).
The largescale high-grade deposits being developed are McArthur River with reserves of 160,000 tons of uranium, at an ore grade of 12.7% U, Cigar Lake with 150,000 tons at 7.8% U, Midwest with 13,200 tons at 3.8%, all located in Saskatchewan. The latter two were licensed in 1998, McArthur River already in 1997.
Construction of the controversial Jabiluka mine in the Northern Territory of Australia was licensed in June 1998 and started the same month. The deposit contains 76,660 tons uranium at 0.39% U and it is located on a lease surrounded by the Kakadu National Park, a UN World Heritage. After intervention by the Traditional Owners of the site, the mining company Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) changed its plans to process the ore on site instead at the existing Ranger mill. The plans for mill tailings management at Jabiluka are rather vague still and are subject to further licensing. In January, the European Parliament passed a resolution in favor of indigenous peoples concerned from uranium mining projects, and against the development of the Jabiluka project in particular. In December, the Australian government suffered a further setback, when the United Nations' World Heritage Committee (WHC) called for a preliminary halt to the project, until the committee would make its decision in April 1999, whether Kakadu National Park were to be listed as a World Heritage "in danger". From March to October, Jabiluka was the target of the longest-ever blockade against a uranium mine, organized by Jabiluka Traditional Owners and environmental activists from all over Australia. Hundreds of activists were arrested during the blockade.
At the Beverley and Honeymoon ore deposits in south Australia, field leach trials for in-situ leaching have begun in 1998.
The expansion (more than doubling) of the production capability of the Olympic Dam copper/uranium mine in south Australia is going on and is expected to come into effect late in 1998.
In the United States, the following in-situ leach projects were licensed in 1998: Crownpoint (New Mexico), Rosita extension (Texas), and Alta Mesa (Texas).
Canadian uranium miner Anaconda Uranium Corp. announced the development of the Nisa mine in Portugal.
Decommissioning projects
Regarding the present situation of the uranium industry, it is no surprise that the decommissioning standards are getting weaker.
The largest decommissioning project approved in 1998 was the 70-million-ton Denison Stanrock uranium mill tailings pile in Elliot Lake, Ontario. This is the first license for a permanent disposal of largescale uranium tailings with a soft non-durable water cover worldwide.
The US Department of Energy's cleanup program for the uranium mill tailings sites left over from the Cold War era was nearly completed in 1998, at least regarding the surface aspect. For the groundwater aspect, as well as for the tailings from commercial uranium production, work is only beginning, and often consists of granting relaxed groundwater standards.
Relaxed groundwater standards were proposed or approved for the mill tailings sites at Riverton (Wyoming), Shirley Basin (Wyoming), Falls City (Texas), and for the groundwater restoration at the following in-situ leach sites: Burns/Moser, Holiday, Clay West, O'Hern, Boots/Brown (all in Texas). Active groundwater cleanup was proposed for the Tuba City (Arizona) mill site.
For the Belfield and Bowman mill tailings sites in North Dakota, the decision was made, at the request of the State of North Dakota, that no cleanup would be performed at all.
A matter of high discussion was the cleanup of the 9.5-million-ton Atlas Corp. uranium mill tailings site at Moab (Utah). The pile is located immediately on the bank of the Colorado River, a drinking water resource for millions of Americans. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), as well as Moab residents and environmental groups, had requested that the tailings be relocated to a safer place, while Atlas Corp. and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) thought a rock cover would be sufficient. Meanwhile, the FWS changed its mind and adhered to the rock cover policy, causing residents and environmentalists to file a lawsuit, while Atlas Corp. declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy...
Impacts on Uranium Workers
Science News: Archer et al found that not only lung cancer but also pulmonary fibrosis occurring in uranium miners can be caused from excessive exposure to radon progeny.
Impacts on Residents
On July 15, 1998, a federal jury awarded US$2.9 million to 14 residents of Lincoln Park who were contaminated by Cotter Corp.'s Cañon City (Colorado) uranium mill during the 1970s and 1980s. The mill was in operation from 1958 to 1987. Liquid wastes containing radionuclides and heavy metals were discharged from 1958 to 1978 into 11 unlined tailings ponds. The ponds were replaced in 1982 with the construction of two lined impoundments. Prior to 1982, a number of Lincoln Park wells showed elevated levels of contamination.
Science News: Zamora et al, for the first time, studied the effects of chronic ingestion of uranium with drinking water on humans. They found that kidney function is affected by uranium uptakes considered safe in the publications based on animal studies.
Archer, Victor E. et al: Chronic Diffuse Interstitial Fibrosis of the Lung in Uranium Miners, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Vol. 40, No. 5, May 1998, p. 460-474.
Zamora, M.L. et al: Chronic Ingestion of Uranium in Drinking Water: A Study of Kidney Bioeffects in Humans, Toxicological Sciences Vol. 43, No. 1, May 1998, p. 68-77.
Source and Contact: Peter Diehl at WISE Uranium.
E-mail: p.diehl@sik.de
For details, check WISE Uranium Project's web site at http://www.wise-uranium.org/