LLAW’s “ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” #478 (12/12/2023)

”End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity”

The Lucky Mc Open Pit Uranium mine (1976) in central Wyoming

LLAW’s COMMENTARY TODAY:

How it came to be that I joined the uranium/nuclear business ‘Back in the Day’ in January, 1968 . . .

More than fifty years have passed since I first learned that nuclear power plants and weapons of mass destruction were fueled by uranium, an element my well-worn dog-eared Webster’s 1930s-something dictionary defined essentially as a “worthless low-level radioactive mineral found in the ground.” The reason I remember this definition is because of a letter I received in January of 1969 from a mining company in central Wyoming’s “Gas Hills”, oddly named Lucky Mc (pronounced “Lucky Mac”) Mine, inviting me to an employment interview at the mine site and to please call to set up a date and time for the meeting. I had that old broke-spine 1940s Webster’s dictionary on my bookshelf in our small trailer house, so I looked up the definition. What the hell had changed? What were nuclear plants’ and nuclear bombs’ ingredients if not refined uranium? Of course I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

The mine, I was told in the letter, was owned by a company known as Utah Construction and Mining Company, which was then best known for building the Hoover Dam, but was now a major player in mining, primarily of coal and uranium. Intrigued, I found a pay phone at the General Store in Elk Mountain, Wyoming, and made the telephone call.

The interview took place a couple of weeks later in mid-January, and I was offered a job as a senior accountant, which I immediately accepted, ending my old job as a field office manager for a highway construction company that had recently transferred me from Grand Junction, Colorado, to a new project between Laramie and Rawlins in southern Wyoming. So I had set up shop in an office trailer halfway between the two towns, preparing for road construction to begin in early spring.

But having a growing family with two young pre-school children and an infant daughter, I was thankful for the opportunity to settle into a new life in a more permanent location than highway construction offered, so I was pleased to accept the job offer.

As I learned my new job, I soon became the chief accountant and then the administrative manager at the mine, directly overseeing more than one hundred employees in white collar jobs. The company grew rapidly in its uranium branch to include a new mine known as the “Shirley Basin Mine,” blossoming Utah Construction and Mining Company into a new and more sophisticated reformed Utah International Inc, and a bit later, a major subsidiary of General Electric Company, which, among other well-known products, manufactured not-so well-known nuclear reactors. Eventually, the uranium mining division was spun off as Pathfinder Mines Corp. to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

During those early days, I learned a lot about the mining and milling operations, including security, health and safety, as well as how the fuel production, the multi-step enriching process, governmental regulation, and how the marketing and selling of uranium was accomplished. In the beginning the only customer the company, as well as the entire uranium industry, had was the United States’ Atomic Energy Commission, and we were the major producer and provider of relatively stable basic enriched uranium (U308), which would be refined into U238, the active isotope in nuclear reactors, to the government (including the TVA) until deregulation allowed us to sell mill refined U3O8 uranium to operational nuclear power plants as well as plants under construction and in development.

One of these new nuclear power stations was Pacific Gas and Electric’s under construction facility, known as the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, in San Luis Obispo County, California, near Avila Beach. The original facility, Unit 1 of course, began construction in 1968 followed by Unit 2 in 1970. During the following decade Utah Construction & Mining Company, by then known as Utah International Inc, profited immensely from our sale of uranium to American, Canadian, French, German, and other nuclear power facilities around the world. But that is another story—still in progress. ~llaw


ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA:

There are 5 categories (plus a bonus category at the end for news about the Yellowstone caldera and others that also play an important role in humanity’s lives) as do ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 linked most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none. The Categories are listed below in their usual appearing order:

  1. All Things Nuclear
  2. Nuclear Power
  3. Nuclear War
  4. Nuclear Power Emergencies
  5. Nuclear War Threats
  6. Yellowstone Caldera

Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.

A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (per above). There are no Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this Post. If a category heading does not appear, it means there was no news reported from this category today.

(Just a reminder: When linked, the access to the media story will be underlined. If there is no link to a media story of interest you can still copy and paste the headline and lead line into your browser to find the article you are seeking. Hopefully this will never happen.)

TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS (12/12/2023) :

All Things Nuclear

NEWS

Inside the Little-Known U.S. Arms Control Center in Daily Contact With Russia – Time

Time

… about Russia’s nuclear forces have stopped coming in. All that is left is the occasional notification about ballistic missile launches, a last …

COP28’s Dramatic but Empty Nuclear Pledge – Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

… nuclear energy production by 2050. If achieved, the pledge would result in nuclear energy providing about one-third of all global electricity.

Is Biden taking the Iran nuclear deal off life support? – Responsible Statecraft

Responsible Statecraft

Indeed, Abdollahian’s references to “mov[ing] forward” are about advances in Iran’s nuclear program. … All Rights Reserved.

Nuclear Power

NEWS

Democrats weaponize nuclear power against House GOP – Politico

Politico

David Valadao over his position on California’s last remaining nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon. Valadao voted in 2021 against the $1.2 trillion …

Microsoft Targets Nuclear to Power AI Operations – WSJ

The Wall Street Journal

The tech company aims to expedite the nuclear regulatory process using AI, unlocking a round-the-clock energy source for its growing power needs.

Event – Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) – Home

Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) – Home

Suppliers play a critical role in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. With a declining number of nuclear grade suppliers and a …

Nuclear War

NEWS

Nuclear warnings serve Putin’s purpose as he bids for new term – Reuters

Reuters

The prospect of six more years in power for Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to mean no let-up in nuclear … war on Ukraine’s side. “How can …

Inside the Little-Known U.S. Arms Control Center in Daily Contact With Russia – Time

Time

The NNRRC was set up to reduce the chance of nuclear war. But as Russia pulls out of arms control deals, the risks grow ever greater.

Putin views Russia’s new nuclear submarines, says more being rolled out – Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera

Russian lawmakers in October approved record military spending as Russia continues its war in neighbouring Ukraine. The Emperor Alexander III. It is …

Nuclear Power Emergencies

NEWS

Illinois governor signs bill allowing small modular reactor development – Power Engineering

Power Engineering

… nuclear power in the state. Besides allowing the development of small modular reactors, the bill: Requires the Illinois Emergency Management and …

Labor’s new AUKUS bill declares Osborne in SA, Stirling in WA as nuclear zones

Green Left

Marles told parliament he will hold the power to direct the military nuclear regulator during a “national security” emergency. Stirling Naval Base …

South Africa to build new nuclear plants, state says – The East African

The East African

Electricity minister said the extra 2500MW of extra nuclear power would be “a significant milestone”.

Nuclear War Threats

NEWS

A Gigantic New ICBM Will Take US Nuclear Missiles Out of the Cold War-Era but Add 21st …

SecurityWeek

For the Pentagon, there are expectations the modern Sentinel will meet threats from rapidly evolving Chinese and Russian missile systems. The Sentinel …

Opinion – Reducing Nuclear Fears to Negotiate a Winning Peace in Ukraine

E-International Relations

The outcome Putin can least spin as direct war with the West. A pledge publicly targets the power of Putin’s threats. His media, military and elites …

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 11, 2023 | Critical Threats

Critical Threats

… threaten the West. Putin attended the flag-raising ceremony for two nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine carriers, the cruise missile …

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