by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
As appearing in the Daily Sentinel

The administration recently released a report called “Restoring America’s Competitive Nuclear Advantage,” compiled after an eight-month review by the White House Nuclear Fuel Working Group. That was composed of all the federal agencies involved in nuclear power, nuclear defense, and public lands. It proposes a $150 million strategic uranium reserve (like the petroleum reserve) and revitalizing the domestic uranium industry, which is almost extinct.

The previous administration had blocked uranium mining on federal lands, especially targeting mining proposals in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon, whereas the new plan would once again allow uranium mining on some federal lands, with all the required permitting and environmental controls. It would also encourage the development of new technologies, such as small modular reactors like those being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Opposition from the environmental industry was immediate, and venomous. One Popular Mechanics editorial writer said, “In an idea that sounds like it’s from Mad Libs, President Trump has suggested he wants to mine the Grand Canyon,” an absurd accusation that others quickly repeated. Several paragraphs later that writer admitted, “That doesn’t specifically mean the Grand Canyon,” but that it might possibly include already existing mines nearby. The vitriol is actually surprising, because many environmental organizations now claim to prefer nuclear power to fossil fuels, as their focus on climate change has led them to view nuclear reactors as reliable carbon-free generators. The Union of Concerned Scientists has sounded an alarm about plans to close more than a third of the nation’s existing nuclear plants, saying that those plants provide critical low-carbon electricity that will likely be replaced by fossil fuels. That support is echoed by a wide range of environmental groups, though the largest organizations still oppose nuclear power, and the uranium mining it requires, despite their calls for emission-free energy.