America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has finalised a new permitting process for low-impact, in situ uranium recovery (ISR) operations. The effort follows two years of extensive public involvement. The new process, detailed in a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), offers numerous energy security and environmental benefits and will help the country’s uranium ISR recovery operations continue to produce most of the uranium that is domestically mined.
National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn in a June 4 statement said the GEIS will help boost “US energy security at a time of growing international competition for the world’s energy resources.” Quinn said more efficient domestic ISR operations will lessen the nation’s dependence on foreign uranium sources and enhance the ability of domestic producers to supply uranium to the nuclear power industry, which currently generates nearly 20% of the nation’s electricity.
“NRC has made a valuable contribution to the nation’s domestic energy security and the desire for continued environmental protection,” Quinn said. “By using the GEIS as the starting point for any site-specific environmental reviews, NRC increases the efficiency of the individual permitting process, avoids duplicative analyses and helps attract continued investment in this valuable domestic fuel. At the same time, NRC provides safeguards to ensure continued protection of the environment, including groundwater quality.”
“We are especially pleased the GEIS reflects comprehensive data that NMA provided based on more than 30 years of experience in ISR uranium operations,” said Quinn. “As a result, the GEIS will promote efficiency by recognisng processes that are standard in most all uranium recovery operations and focus the agency on site specific features of these operations.”
Quinn noted that nothing in the GEIS precludes the agency or the public from examining the potential for site-specific impacts.