The global energy crunch has meant growing demand for Wyoming’s oil, gas and coal, but the state is also seeing a major resurgence of interest in its plentiful supply of uranium.

Skyrocketing uranium prices over the past three years have sent companies scrambling to explore new claims, including several in Wyoming, which leads the nation in production.

The industry is small when measured against coal or gas, so even a major uranium boom would seem modest by comparison. According to the Wyoming Mining Association, 2004 mineral royalties for uranium were around $1 million.

Though prices have risen steadily from $10 a pound in 2003 to a current high of $56, they are likely to keep rising, and Wyoming will benefit, said Tom Pool, an industry consultant with Colorado-based International Nuclear.

“Uranium prices continue to go up, and there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious within the next year or two that would turn that around,” Pool said.

“What we’re going to see in the next few years in Wyoming is a lot of license and permitting activity,” he said. “Then you should see some new construction coming in.

“The activity will continue and the state of Wyoming will benefit from it,” Pool said. “Wyoming has pretty substantial resources of uranium.”

Department of Revenue figures show only three active uranium operators in 2005, producing about 1.3 million pounds.

But a contact list provided by the Department of Environmental Quality, which permits companies through its Land Quality Division, shows 19 permitted operators, with more pending.

The resurgent activity is a result of a drop in uranium supplies amid growing demand, said Robert W. Gregory, uranium specialist with the Wyoming State Geological Survey.

“A guy I talked to a week ago thinks uranium will be around $75 by the end of the year,” Gregory said. “Most people in the industry say it will continue to rise. We’re on the upslope part of the curve.”

One reason for tight supply is a lack of players in the market following a 20-year price collapse, said Alice Wong, a spokeswoman for Cameco, a Canadian company that is the largest publicly traded uranium producer.

Cameco operates the Smith Ranch uranium site in Converse County and has other properties in the region.

“It’s a very small industry,” Wong said. “There aren’t a lot of people involved because of the very long depression in prices.

“But we have been increasing our production in Wyoming,” she said. “Back in 2004, we produced around 1 million pounds. This year, we’re producing at 1.6 million pounds or better. And we would definitely like to further increase production at our Wyoming and Nebraska mines.”

Changes in uranium extraction since the late 1970s have meant more product can be mined with less labor.

Previously mined underground or in open pits, it is now most often extracted by in situ leaching, where a fluid is pumped down a well to dissolve uranium deposits.

The fluid is then returned to the surface, where it is trucked to a processing site for extraction of the uranium. The fluid is returned to the well site and recycled for further extraction.

Consequently, uranium ventures are more likely to compete against drilling rigs for labor, rather than conventional mining operators, Wong said.

“It depends on the type of job it is, but looking at mining across the board, we probably pay a little better than the average wage,” she said. “But for certain jobs it has been highly competitive.”

There is disagreement among environmentalists over nuclear power, with some saying it offers a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, provided a long-term solution can be found for waste disposal.

But the impact of in situ leach mining is a new subject for environmental groups still struggling to keep up with explosive growth in oil, gas and coal.

“It would be less disruptive on the surface, and better than a huge pit, that’s for sure,” said John Vanvig, organizer for the Powder River Basin Resource Council. “But we still worry about the impact on ground and surface water.”

Environmentalists also caution that cleanup of radioactive materials can be among the most costly and lengthy reclamation projects.

Even as a new uranium boom takes off, the legacy of the last bust lingers in one corner of the state.

“Our process to reclaim the mill site began in 1988,” said Brad DeWaard, the last salaried employee at the Western Nuclear Split Rock mill in Jeffrey City.

“Split Rock was the first uranium mill in Wyoming,” DeWaard said. “We opened the doors in 1957 and operated until 1980.”

“There were over 5,000 people living in Jeffery City in the late 1970s,” he said. “Right now, there’s maybe 40, and that’s stretching it. They were all connected in one way or another to the uranium.”

Demand for uranium plummeted following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, DeWaard said.

“We spent several years on standby, and in 1988 we began the long process to reclaim this facility,” he said. “The cleanup that needs to be done in a uranium mill site is extensive. There have been years of reclamation.”

DeWaard said major cleanup activities were completed in 1997.

“If the stars align,” he said, “We hope to dissolve the company and be off this property next year.”

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