OPINION:
In their recent analysis, Stephen Moore and Katie Tubb of The Heritage Foundation highlight the need to revive the American uranium industry and go over the options before President Trump to achieve this goal (“A cheer for the Trump uranium plan,” Web, Dec. 15).
As they point out, the U.S. overwhelmingly relies on uranium imports. Those imports increasingly come from geopolitical adversaries such as Russia and less from U.S. production and trusted allies such as Canada and Australia.
While Mr. Moore and Ms. Tubb lay out most of the threats, they omit a crucial one: Time. Several key U.S. uranium production facilities are at risk of closing soon. If that occurs, the United States will lose even more of its ability to tap domestic uranium, which we require in order to meet national security needs, along with the workforce necessary to produce this critical material. If this challenge is not addressed very quickly, more of the nuclear-fuel supply chain will fail, and the solution will become more difficult and expensive for U.S. taxpayers to address.
As Mr. Moore and Ms. Tubb emphasize, we cannot afford to let this vital industry decline any further.
MARK CHALMERS
President and CEO
Energy Fuels Resourcaes (USA) Inc.
Lakewood, Colo.
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