Uranium in Colorado: Past, Present, and Potential Future Shiya Wang, PhD Radiation Program Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division LLW Forum April 25, 2017

Outline Overview of Colorado Uranium Program: What, Why, How, Who, and When Current Challenges Cotter Uravan Black Range / Ablation Mining Technology Summary

Colorado Uranium Program : What Uranium mills (uranium recovery facilities) Non-milling licenses Waste disposal facilities Water treatment facilities Research facilities Others with uranium exceeding the limit for a license

Colorado Uranium Program : What We regulate uranium recovery Extraction and concentration of uranium Mill tailings Image source: www.nrc.org

Colorado Uranium Program : Why Radiological hazards: internal, external; α, β, γ; especially radon Non-radiological hazards: heavy metals and chemicals Environmental impacts (e.g., to groundwater, soil, surface water, air..) Engineering/hydrology/geology Uranium decay chain Image source: DOE/EIA-0592

Colorado Uranium Program : How As an Agreement State, Colorado began to regulate uranium recovery since 1968 Regulations compatible with NRC’s, e.g., 10 CFR Part 20 and 40 Radioactive Materials Licenses: licensing, compliance inspection, emergency response, technical reviews, etc.. Staffing: Led by the Radiation Program Manger and one full-time technical staff Subject matter experts from other programs in our Division and outside contractors for subjects, such as superfund, hydrology, geology, engineering, environmental data QA/QC, laboratory, etc.. Public interests Close cooperation with other agencies, such as EPA, DOE, BLM, NRC..

Colorado Uranium Program : Who and When Pre-licensing Baseline monitoring Application Public involvement Pre-operation Construction Pre-operational inspection Operation Occupational & environmental safety Compliance D&D Cleanups Superfund Post-reclamation License termination Long-term surveillance Facility Lifetime

Colorado Uranium Program : Who and When Cotter Uravan < 1990 Pre-licensing Baseline monitoring Application Public involvement Pre-operation Construction Pre-operational inspection Operation Occupational & environmental safety Compliance D&D Cleanups Superfund Post-reclamation License termination Long-term surveillance Facility Lifetime

Colorado Uranium Program : Who and When Cotter Uravan 2001-2010 Pre-licensing Baseline monitoring Application Public involvement Pre-operation Construction Pre-operational inspection Operation Occupational & environmental safety Compliance D&D Cleanups Superfund Post-reclamation License termination Long-term surveillance Facility Lifetime

Colorado Uranium Program : Who and When 2016 Cotter Uravan Black Range Piñon Ridge Pre-licensing Baseline monitoring Application Public involvement Pre-operation Construction Pre-operational inspection Operation Occupational & environmental safety Compliance D&D Cleanups Superfund Post-reclamation License termination Long-term surveillance Facility Lifetime

Cotter Uranium Mill Cañon City, CO

Current/Future Challenges 1988 – 2012: License and the Consent Decree/Remedial Action Plan 2014 Agreement on Consent and Statement of Work requires Cotter to follow EPA Superfund CERCLA (The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) process: Remedial Investigation (RI) Feasibility Study (FS) Record of Decision (ROD) Remedial Design/Remedial Action (RA/RD) Community Advisory Group (CAG) and the Preferred Document Review and Comment Process

Umetco Uravan Site

<<Uravan, Colorado, One Hundred Years of History>>, Umetco, 2002

Uravan 2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uravan,_Colorado

Current/Future Challenges End NPL Delisting License Termination Consent Decree Termination Site Transfer DOE long-term stewardship NRC General License

Ablation Mining Technology Proposed by Black Range Minerals Image Source: Black Range July 2015 White Paper

How should we regulate it? ~90% of uranium The challenge is – Is it mining or milling? Mill tailings (progeny, heavy metals, chemicals) Uranium mill Crushing Grinding ~0.25% of uranium ~1% of uranium Ablation product (fine-grained minerals) Ablation Ablation wastes

Summary Potential Future Cotter Uravan Black Range Piñon Ridge Pre-licensing Baseline monitoring Application Public involvement Pre-operation Construction Pre-operational inspection Operation Occupational & environmental safety Compliance D&D Cleanups Superfund Post-reclamation License termination Long-term surveillance Facility Lifetime