NRC RECEIVES FIRST APPLICATION IN NEARLY TWO DECADES 

FOR NEW URANIUM RECOVERY OPERATION 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received an application from Energy 

Metals Corp. US to construct and operate an in-situ uranium recovery facility at Moore 

Ranch in Campbell County, Wyo. It is the first application for a new uranium recovery 

facility submitted to the NRC since 1988. 

 The application, submitted Oct. 3, will soon be available on the NRC Web site at 

this address: http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/. The NRC staff is 

currently reviewing the application to determine whether it contains sufficient 

information to begin detailed environmental and safety reviews. If the application is 

deemed acceptable, the agency will formally docket it and publish a notice of opportunity 

to request an adjudicatory hearing. 

 “In addition to the first applications for new reactors in decades, this application 

for a new uranium recovery facility is a further indicator that the nuclear renaissance is 

real,” NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein said. “The NRC is prepared to meet the challenge of 

conducting these license reviews in a timely and efficient manner.” 

 Existing uranium recovery facilities have indicated interest in resuming and 

expanding operations, and based on projections from industry, the NRC is expecting at 

least 15 applications for new facilities – including in-situ operations and conventional 

uranium mills – over the next three years. 

 Energy Metals Corp. US, based in Edmund, Okla., is a subsidiary of Energy 

Metals Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia. 

 In-situ recovery of uranium involves injecting a leaching agent, typically oxygen 

with sodium carbonate, through wells into underground ore to dissolve the uranium. The 

leach solution is pumped back to the surface and sent to a processing plant, where ion 

exchange is used to separate the uranium from the solution. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 07-129 October 4, 2007
The underground leaching of the uranium also frees other metals and minerals 

from the rock. Before operations begin at Moore Ranch, the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, with the assistance of the state of Wyoming, must exempt the 

groundwater aquifer from Safe Drinking Water Act requirements. After uranium 

recovery ceases, Energy Metals Corp. US will be required to return the groundwater 

affected by operations to pre-operation background concentrations. 

Dr. Charles Miller (3rd from right), director of NRC’s Office of Federal and State 

Materials and Environmental Management Programs, receives the first uranium recovery 

license application in nearly two decades. With Dr. Miller are members of the team that 

will review the application. 
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