Last US Uranium Plant to Close

[TGHusker]

Is this a good idea or not. Is it a sign of our decline or a sign of the progress due to cooperation between nations (ie Iran Deal)?

 

My take, we should never be reliant on production of strategic materials if at all possible. This article doesn't give the 'other side' of the argument - so perhaps someone with more time can look for that and contribute.

 

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/obama-administration-close-last/2015/09/28/id/693777/

[darkhorse85]

I'm more concerned about what this means for the current naval fleet than our nuclear arsenal. I know the nuclear power plants we have aboard our subs and carriers will most likely outlast their ships commissions but we have to have a plan going forward for new ships. I'm sure someone with an awfully high pay grade has a solution. Or maybe that solution is importing. Interesting stuff.

[zoogs]

A total garbage article.

 

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/09/16/department-of-energy-finally-cuts-wasteful-american-centrifuge-project

 

It should not have been a hard decision to make: Recent reviews of the government's enriched uranium inventory have shown there isn't a dire need for more enrichment capacity, and Centrus has admitted that its plans to commercialize the American Centrifuge Project "are [not] economically viable." Continuing to run the centrifuges in Piketon would have amounted to little more than a science experiment costing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, and the Department of Energy has stated it doesn't really even need the data that it would provide. A better decision would have been to let the United States Enrichment Corporation's dreams quietly fade back in 2009, when the Department of Energy first denied the loan guarantee, or to stop funding it altogether when the company announced plans to file for bankruptcy in 2014. Taxpayers could have saved close to $400 million, spent on what even a casual observer would recognize as a doomed project.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/08/01/ohio-uranium-plant-cleanup-plan-okd.html

 

That plant ceased production since 2001. The demo project that has been going on there since is, well, here's a nice history of its "accomplishments".

 

Of course Ohio politicians want to bemoan the possibility of lost jobs, but the federal government does not exist to prop up every project. If it's run its course, it's run its course, but of course they'll fight for more money until the end.

 

Think U.S. nuclear capability will be fine.

 

A site that churns out articles like this is disingenuous at best. Their intentions have nothing to do with informing, and everything to do with just the opposite. (Sorry, to be clear, I'm not going after you here -- but plainly, this article is really misleading).

[VA Husker Fan]

I'd guess/hope we could ramp back up pretty quickly if the need arrived and we weren't friendly with our suppliers.

[TGHusker]

A total garbage article.

 

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/09/16/department-of-energy-finally-cuts-wasteful-american-centrifuge-project

 

It should not have been a hard decision to make: Recent reviews of the government's enriched uranium inventory have shown there isn't a dire need for more enrichment capacity, and Centrus has admitted that its plans to commercialize the American Centrifuge Project "are [not] economically viable." Continuing to run the centrifuges in Piketon would have amounted to little more than a science experiment costing tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, and the Department of Energy has stated it doesn't really even need the data that it would provide. A better decision would have been to let the United States Enrichment Corporation's dreams quietly fade back in 2009, when the Department of Energy first denied the loan guarantee, or to stop funding it altogether when the company announced plans to file for bankruptcy in 2014. Taxpayers could have saved close to $400 million, spent on what even a casual observer would recognize as a doomed project.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/08/01/ohio-uranium-plant-cleanup-plan-okd.html

 

That plant ceased production since 2001. The demo project that has been going on there since is, well, here's a nice history of its "accomplishments".

 

Of course Ohio politicians want to bemoan the possibility of lost jobs, but the federal government does not exist to prop up every project. If it's run its course, it's run its course, but of course they'll fight for more money until the end.

 

Think U.S. nuclear capability will be fine.

 

A site that churns out articles like this is disingenuous at best. Their intentions have nothing to do with informing, and everything to do with just the opposite. (Sorry, to be clear, I'm not going after you here -- but plainly, this article is really misleading).

 

No problem zoogs - glad you took the time to dig deeper.