News
First Uranium Mines to Dig in the US in Eight Years Begin Operations Near Grand Canyon
The push for more nuclear energy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has spiked uranium prices, leading mines for the element to begin operating again in the U.S. despite long-term environmental and health impacts.
By Wyatt Myskow
Three uranium mines have gone into production along the Arizona-Utah border, with more on the way elsewhere in the Mountain West, as market conditions for the mineral needed for nuclear energy improve in response to a global push to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels to slow climate change.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: coal
State of Play
The use of coal, a staple of heating and electricity-generation for decades, is in decline in the United States — supplanted by newly abundant production of natural gas — but is still dominant in some parts of the world. While economical, coal use is particularly problematic as international attention focuses increasingly on climate change.