Used uranium worth billions Paducah facility has stored treasure
By James R. Carrolljcarroll@courier-journal.com
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.
Turning the depleted uranium into a marketable commodity would remove the burden to taxpayers of storing the material, Whitfield said at a hearing last week of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight and investigations subcommittee. Storage is costing the government $200 million annually.
The re-enrichment work also would extend the life of the Paducah plant beyond its target closing date of 2012, thus helping the workforce there. And the money from the sale of the uranium would help repair the environmental damage at the Kentucky and Ohio facilities, Whitfield said.
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Now for the bad news Pardners --- typically it seems lately, there are some worms in this shiny apple. The Asst Secretary for nuclear energy making this recommendation is Dennis Spurgeon, who just left the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) in 2003 after 2½ years as their Chief Operating Officer with $5M+ in his pocket. Look up back up there four paragraphs and see who will get this zillion dollar contract!
Now I'm not saying this isn't all kosher -- but curious minds have got to wonder! If you have a curious mind -- read the whole article at:
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS01/804060477/1008
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