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

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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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..

7. 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

8. 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

9. Colorado Uranium Program : Who and When
Cotter
Uravan
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

10. 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

11. Cotter Uranium Mill Cañon City, CO

13. 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

14. Umetco Uravan Site

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

16. Uravan 2015

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

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

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

20. 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

21. 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