United States uranium exploration drilling was 5,441 holes covering 3.3 million feet in 2011. Development drilling was 5,156 holes and 3.0 million feet. Combined, total uranium drilling was 10,597 holes covering 6.3 million feet, 47 percent more holes than in 2010.
Civilian nuclear power plant owners in the United States purchased 55 million pounds U3O8e in 2011 at an average price of $55.64 per pound U3O8e. Foreign-origin uranium accounted for 91% of the purchases and was sourced mainly from Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Brazil, China, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, South Africa, and Ukraine. Prices were up sharply.
Uranium consumption currently exceeds production by over 70 million pounds per year and the source that currently supplies overconsumption will deplete in the next few years.
Yucca Mountain, once designated as the permanent storage site for US nuclear waste, is available for other uses. GAO has published: “Yucca Mountain: Information on Alternative Uses of the Site and Related Challenges“
“The risk list gives a quick indication of the relative risk in 2011 to the supply of the chemical elements or element groups which we need to maintain our economy and lifestyle.” Quoted from the British Geological Survey news release.
“Owners and operators of U.S. commercial nuclear power reactors purchased nearly 47 million pounds of uranium from U.S. and foreign suppliers during 2010; 92% of this total was of foreign origin.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration article.
One of the world’s largest unmined uranium deposits is located in southern Virginia. Although there is a strong interest in mining the deposit the state has a 30-year moratorium on uranium mining.
The House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee’s Budget for 2012 includes funds to continue the licensing process for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and includes strong language regarding the decision to cancel the project.
Surface disturbance from oil and gas wells in one square mile, Weld County, Colorado.
Colorado and New Mexico are endowed with multiple energy resources: oil and gas, shale gas, coal bed methane, uranium, geothermal, wind, and solar, and thus represent a microcosm of issues that affect the Western United States. Increased demand for energy—renewable and nonrenewable—drives the intensified development of all forms of energy in the region.
Resource managers and other decisionmakers are expected to balance the benefits of the rapid development of energy resources in light of their potential effects on these other resources.
The recent earthquake in Japan created new concerns around the use of nuclear power as fears of climate change have damaged the prospects of coal as a fuel for power generation. These promote natural gas to the most promising power plant fuel.
“It’s a mystery that presented itself unexpectedly: The radioactive decay of some elements sitting quietly in laboratories on Earth seemed to be influenced by activities inside the sun, 93 million miles away.” Quoted from the Stanford University press release.
“The Grand Canyon region contains over 1300 known or suspected breccia pipes, which are vertical, pipe-shaped bodies of highly fractured rock that collapsed into voids created by dissolution of underlying rock. Some breccia pipes were mineralized with uranium oxide as well as sulfides of copper, zinc, silver, and other metals. [...] A new study by the Arizona Geological Survey shows that potential accidental release of uranium to the Colorado River due to a mining-related accident in the Grand Canyon region would cause little change to the large annual flux of dissolved uranium that is carried naturally by the river.”
Drinking water facilities and wastewater treatment plants will expand their water testing procedures out of concern for radioactive particles in wastewater produced during natural gas drilling.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has a detailed question and answer page on “Radiation and the Oceans” with a focus on radiation from leaking Japanese nuclear reactors.
The Energy Information Administration has updated the Japan Country Analysis Brief. Japan is the third largest consumer of oil and will likely consume more with nuclear power units going offline…
“Japan likely will require additional natural gas and oil to provide electricity, however power demand may be dampened at least in the short term as a result of the destruction of homes and businesses.” Quoted from the EIA brief.
Investors are selling shares in uraniummining companies after news of several damaged nuclear reactors in Japan. They fear a downturn in the construction and continued operation of nuclear plants.
About 1800 people living in areas adjacent to Tokyo Electric Power Company’s nuclear plant were ordered to evacuate as a precaution after the recent earthquakes and tsunamis. Others living in the general area were told to stay indoors.
A New York Times article explores concerns about radiation levels in wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling sites and how that water is being processed before discharge into the environment.
“Some of the highest grade uranium ore in the United States occurs in breccia pipes scattered across the Grand Canyon region. These breccia pipes, named
for their vertical, pipe-like shape and the broken rock, or breccia, that fills them, range from 300 to 500 ft in diameter at depth. They were formed millions of years ago when groundwater dissolved carbonate rock and created vertical cavities into which surrounding rock collapsed.” Quoted from the USGS Fact Sheet.
The New York Times has an article titled “Federal Royalties for Gold and Copper?”. It explores the idea of the federal government collecting royalties on mineral extracted from federal lands. Since passage of the 1872 mining law, royalties have not been paid.
“The General Mining Law of 1872 declared all valuable mineral deposits in land belonging to the United States to be free and open to exploration and purchase. This law provides citizens of the United States the opportunity to explore for, discover and purchase certain valuable mineral deposits on the public lands.
The 1872 Mining Law also provided for the transfer of the land upon which a mining claim has been filed – as opposed to the minerals which were claimed – from federal to private ownership provided certain provisions were met. Transfers of land ownership – acquiring a patent to the land – are currently prohibited by a congressionally-imposed moratorium until Congress determines whether the law should be changed.” Quoted from the Bureau of Land Management website.
The United States has a greater fuel diversity today than at any time in its history. There are also more options available for future growth, yet this is also a time of great concern about energy choices for the future.
Uraniumcontamination may move much slower in groundwater than previously believed. [...] Knowing how uranium spreads out or diffuses in water is critical to predicting its movement and removing the contamination. But previous estimates may have significantly overestimated the radionuclide’s ability to move with the groundwater. Quoted from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory press release.
Lee Alison explains why some experts believe that a shortage of uranium is developing – and why that shortage will become progressively worse through the coming decade.
(He also reports that northern Arizona is thought to be one of the richest uranium sources in the world.)
In a TED: Ideas Worth Spreading talk, Mark Jacobson and Stewart Brand debate the question: “Does the world need nuclear energy?” They both attack the question by considering the alternatives.
A short tour of a nuclear bunker museum in Russia. The purpose of the tour is to let people know what life in a bunker would be like if a nuclear blast occurred near Moscow.
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