By James R. Carroll
jcarroll@courier-journal.com
April 6, 2008
WASHINGTON -- About 40,000 canisters of depleted uranium are spread out in rows at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.An additional 20,000 are stored at a sister facility in Piketon, Ohio.
For years, the canisters and their contents have been considered worthless waste. Not anymore.
With worldwide uranium supplies tight and prices soaring, those canisters in Kentucky and Ohio are getting a new look as a potential moneymaker for the federal government.
In 2000, uranium was selling for about $7 per pound. By last summer it was at $140 per pound. Prices have dropped back now, to about $73 per pound. But that still means the uranium that could be recovered from the waste could be worth about $7.6 billion, according to the federal Government Accountability Office.
"Suddenly, this waste nobody wanted has become very valuable," said Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District, in which the Paducah plant is located. Whitfield has introduced legislation directing the Department of energy to re-enrich the depleted uranium, known as tails, into usable fuel for nuclear reactors.
The work would be done under contract with the United States Enrichment Corp., which operates the Paducah plant. With the Piketon facility closed, Paducah currently is the only uranium-processing facility in the United States.
Whitfield's bill also would require the profits from the sale of the re-enriched uranium to go to environmental cleanup at the Paducah and Piketon facilities.
(Please read the balance of this article by clicking the link below:)
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS01/804060477/1008
No comments:
Post a Comment