Word: uranium
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Even as the debate over long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel raged during the 1990s, U.S. uranium consumption rose about 35% over the decade, to about 55 million lbs. in 2001. That makes Cameco's bet on McArthur River--and the firm's nearby mine, Cigar Lake, which could begin production around mid-decade--look a lot less foolish...
Powder is from Uranium City, 186 miles northwest of the mine, and near the end of his day shift, he was one of only two dozen or so miners at work underground at McArthur River. Where Powder works, it's as dry as a bone, but a few hundred feet away, in a neighboring tunnel, a perpetual fine rain falls. The porous sandstone that encases the mine's ore zone is saturated, even in winter, with water melting from the frozen surface. To keep the water from pouring into the mining shafts, Cameco's engineers have pulled off a remarkable...
Here's how it works: McArthur River uses two horizontal floors, above and below the uranium-ore zone. One floor is 1,740 ft. underground and the other is at 2,100 ft., where Powder was stationed on the day of our visit. To start mining a new section of ore, a drill is used to dig a 15-in. pilot hole from the upper level to the lower one. Once the drill bit punches through the ceiling of the lower horizontal shaft, the drill is removed and a 10-ton, 10-ft.-wide reamer with tungsten-carbide teeth...
...wealth of energy these innovations produce is startling. One tramload at 60% U3O8 is worth about $134,000. A single hole produces something like $150 million worth of uranium in the 10 days or so it takes to bore it. By mining just 140 tons of ore a day (a thimbleful compared with big copper-or iron-ore mines), McArthur River produces more than 18 million lbs. of uranium a year. That's 20% of the world's annual production, enough to run 40 standard 1,000-MW reactors for a year. That much uranium can satisfy fully...
Pick up a chunk of uranium ore (a low-yield variety, please, and don't hold it for long), and you will be surprised by its weight. Uranium is denser than lead. McArthur River ore is a glossy black that gleams like marble. It's easy to imagine the radioactive energy stored in this rock. Whatever your environmental stance, at McArthur River you can sense the elemental power of uranium, a clean-burning source of seemingly limitless electricity. And you can understand former Cameco CEO Bernard Michel's assessment: "The world is seeing a fresh start for nuclear power...