Mike Nartker and Todd Jacobson
WC Monitor
6/6/2014
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) late last week criticized the Department of Energy’s latest determination that its transfers of uranium for cleanup and other purposes are not hurting the domestic uranium industry. Noting that the Department’s latest market analysis shows a 10 percent drop in the spot price for uranium, Lummis told WC Monitor on the sidelines of an event in Washington, “Yet they came out and said, ‘Well there’s no impact.’ That contradicts their own report. So I think this being driven by something other than the facts—this determination—and it is hurting uranium producers in the United States.” She added, “To throw a wet mop over the development of uranium in this country, and the conversion industry that goes with, is extremely short-sided. So dispersing the stockpile to the benefit of the federal coffers at the expense of the private sector is so short-sided that it defies logic.”
In mid-May, DOE issued its latest Secretarial determination finding that its uranium transfer plans would not have an “adverse material impact” on the domestic uranium industry. DOE plans to transfer annually a maximum of 2,705 metric tons of natural uranium equivalent to help fund cleanup activities, primarily at the Portsmouth site, and for National Nuclear Security Administration programs. DOE’s transfers of its excess uranium, though, have bet met with heavy opposition from U.S. uranium producers concerned about the sharp drop in price in recent years.
Along with the latest Secretarial determination, DOE released last month a study prepared by Energy Resources International that, in part, questioned whether an end to DOE’s transfers would result in a significant improvement to the domestic uranium market. “It is clear that there have been production, employment and financial impacts on the domestic industry due to a variety of market factors culminating in the current oversupplied markets. Based on the analysis contained in this study, it is not clear that a reduction in DOE inventory releases would cause the overall market conditions to change enough to make a significant difference in the health and status of the domestic industries,” the study says.
