Alex Demas, Susan Hall, and Mark Mihalasky of the U.S.G.S., Denver report that the potential for almost 5 years of annual domestic U.S. nuclear fuel requirements may exist in south Texas, according to a new USGS assessment of both identified and undiscovered uranium oxide resources. This assessment estimates 60 million pounds of identified, but unmined, uranium resources, and more than 200 million pounds of newly estimated undiscovered resources. The uranium oxide is located in sandstone formations throughout the South Texas Coastal Plain, which borders the Gulf of Mexico.
The area has long been known to contain uranium, and two mines are currently in operation, with a number of companies actively exploring for uranium. As the world leader in nuclear power, uranium is both a critically and strategically important resource, said Larry Meinert, program coordinator of the USGS Mineral Resources Program. Identifying and understanding our domestic mineral wealth is a vital part of ensuring the security of our supply chain for these resources. The 60 million pounds of identified uranium resources could, if mined, provide up to one year worth of domestic nuclear fuel requirements, based on 2014 requirements. The 200 million pounds of undiscovered resources could, if proven and produced, add another four years of nuclear fuel for the United States, bringing the total potential to about five years of domestic supply.
U.S. nuclear power plants generate about 19% of the Nation electricity. In 2014 alone, these plants purchased 53 million pounds of uranium oxide to meet their needs, and U.S. nuclear capacity is expected to increase to supply more nuclear plants than any other country, but the U.S. imports more than 90% of the uranium required by those plants.
Original working URL appears to have been withdrawn or file name chnaged: https://www.usgs.gov/news?ID=4402#.VmDI3PmrQWc
Other USGS articles on Texas Uranium:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883292716301871
https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20175134
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