WHITE MESA, Utah -- Native tribes and environmental groups alike are worried that a Utah uranium-processing mill is becoming a dumping ground for foreign industrial polluters -- and that regulators are doing nothing to stop it.

The White Mesa Uranium Mill in San Juan County has begun accepting tons of radioactive waste from other countries. The mill's owner claims the shipments are uranium ore for processing, but Tim Peterson, cultural landscapes program director for the Grand Canyon Trust, said less than 1% of the material from nations such as Estonia and Japan becomes treated uranium. The rest is destined for the waste pits.

"They view it as waste, but when it comes into the U.S., it's regarded as something that the mill can accept and process without any sort of licensing, without any public notice, without any public comment," he said. "We're concerned that the White Mesa mill not become the world's radioactive waste dump."

Peterson said the nearby Ute Mountain Ute tribe fears toxic pollution will spread to their native lands and the nearby Bears Ears National Monument. A Utah Department of Environmental Quality spokesman said the White Mesa mill currently meets all state and federal licensing requirements.

Peterson contended that Utah officials, who regulate the site for the federal government, have become too close to the uranium-mining industry and are turning a blind eye to the mill's operations.

"We're concerned with the concept or the process of 'sham recycling,' which is where something that's considered waste in one location becomes something to recycle for uranium content when it arrives at the White Mesa mill," he said.

Peterson said tribal leaders are especially concerned that the radioactive waste can't be safely contained in White Mesa's 350-acre waste field.

"The Ute Mountain Ute/White Mesa community is down-gradient from the mill," he said, "and while I can't speak for them, I know that they're concerned about the degradation of their water quality, as well as air quality and materials that they have to breathe."

He said the mill opened in the late 1970s to process low-grade uranium ore. He added that federal nuclear regulators ruled in 2010 that an import license is required to process materials from foreign countries for disposal, but said there's no record of the mill obtaining such a permit.

The UDEQ letter is online at grandcanyontrust.org.


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Today's 80th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear bomb test in New Mexico comes weeks after Congress agreed to include the state in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

The law was first established in 1990 but New Mexicans affected by radiation exposure known as "downwinders" were excluded, while others in Nevada, Utah and Arizona benefited.

Tina Cordova, cofounder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said the recent action was only a partial victory, because those who qualify must apply and be approved for compensation by the end of 2028.

"We're going to continue to fight for the communities that were left out, we're going to continue to fight for a longer extension, more time," Cordova explained. "Because we firmly believe that two years is not going to be enough for the people of New Mexico that have been waiting 80 years."

A family member can apply on behalf of those who have died but compensation for health care costs cannot exceed $100,000 dollars. More than $2.5 billion in claims have been paid by the federal government since 1990. The expansion also includes downwinders in Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Guam.

Cordova pointed out her group already is working to get people enrolled but complications are expected due to changes in the Medicaid program included in the budget megabill. Based on her health surveys of downwinders the past 16 years, she believes it could be a significant number.

"We do know that they depend on Medicaid to access health care when they become so sick that they can't work any longer," Cordova observed. "It's in many ways very bittersweet for us. We'll take the win, but we're jut so nervous about what it means overall."

The Consortium will unveil a memorial sign Wednesday at the site of the Trinity bomb test, two hours south of Albuquerque. Melissa Parke, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, will attend, along with other dignitaries.


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Environmental groups are voicing concerns about plans to build the nation's first small modular reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township, Michigan.

Holtec International said it aims to revive Palisades later this year, after it was decommissioned in 2022, and in five years, install the nation's first small modular reactors. Critics warned the reactors would still produce radioactive waste without long-term disposal solutions and pose accident risks like leaks and meltdowns.

Michael Keegan, research director for the grassroots group Don't Waste Michigan, said about 80 companies are competing to market their small modular reactors, which he argued are not really small nuclear reactors.

"A colleague of mine refers to them as 'small mythical reactors' because they don't exist," Keegan asserted. "They're 'PowerPoint' reactors. It's hyperbole, and they're all chasing Department of Energy money. We're talking billions of dollars."

A $1.5 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan backs the Palisades plant revival, as part of a push to extend the life of aging nuclear reactors to produce low-carbon energy.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has formed a panel to oversee the Palisades' restart for safety compliance. The plant is expected to eventually generate 800 megawatts and power 800,000 homes. Keegan noted anyone who wants to challenge the project must do so under the Administrative Procedures Act.

"We have to go through their administrative law judges," Keegan explained. "We have to go through all those processes, be denied, make an appeal to the NRC commission, be denied, before we can go to a federal court. And we're prepared to do that."

Holtec released a statement, saying in part, its restart project includes "thorough inspections, testing, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to prepare the plant for a return to long-term operation."


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Interest in nuclear energy as a solution to "dirty" sources of power is growing, including a proposal in the Northwest. However, some critics say it could divert attention from more practical renewable energy solutions.

Amazon has signed an agreement with X-energy to build new nuclear technology, known as small modular reactors, to meet the company's growing energy needs. The aim is to build the reactors at the Hanford nuclear site along the Columbia River.

Kelly Campbell, policy director for Columbia Riverkeeper, said companies are looking into nuclear because they want it to be a "magic bullet" for climate change.

"It's a distraction," Campbell asserted. "It's a shiny object that you can say, 'Look over here! We're going to do 'clean' nuclear power.' But it's going to take 15 years at least to build these things, and meanwhile there's still part of the problem of trying to get more energy supply for the data centers and AI needs."

While small modular reactors are seen as an innovative way to provide nuclear energy without having to build large power plants, none has been built in the United States or approved by the federal government. An Oregon-based company called NuScale, at the forefront of small modular reactor design, had its only customer back out last year because of repeated delays in the project.

Campbell pointed out the location of the project Amazon and X-energy are moving forward with is also a concern.

"It's right on the Columbia River and if there's an emergency, if there's an accident with any of these nuclear facilities at Hanford, it would affect all of them," Campbell emphasized. "You may end up in a situation where you're not able to get in and do the things that you need to do in order to protect people from radiation."

After Amazon and Google expressed interest in nuclear to fuel their growing energy needs, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would invest $900 million in this technology.

Campbell is convinced the money would be better spent on proven technology, like wind and solar.

"When we start spending it on nuclear, which people have called 'the most expensive way to boil water,' then that's an opportunity cost that we're losing, in terms of spending that on things we know will work and are safer, quicker to build and cheaper," Campbell contended.