Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Trump Wants $1.5B Over 10 Years to Revive US Uranium Mining

Associated Press

   SALT LAKE CITY - The Trump administration is asking Congress for $1.5
   billion over 10 years to create a new national stockpile of U.S.-mined
   uranium, saying that propping up U.S. uranium production in the face of
   cheaper imports is a matter of vital energy security.

   But some Democratic lawmakers, and market analysts across the political
   spectrum, charge that the Trump administration's overall aim is really
   about helping a few uranium companies that can't compete in the global
   market. Demand for the nuclear fuel has languished worldwide since
   Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster. U.S. uranium production has plummeted
   96% in the last five years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
   reported Thursday.

   Trump made the request for a new national uranium reserve in his 2021
   budget request this week -- the latest illustration that trying to
   rescue the U.S. nuclear and coal industries is a political priority for
   the Republican president, who often invokes national security as
   justification.

   ``It's not the responsibility of the taxpayer to bail out an industry,
   whether that's uranium, solar, coal, what have you,'' said Katie Tubb,
   a senior energy policy analyst at the conservative Washington Heritage
   Foundation.

   The Energy Department said the plan would boost work for at least a
   couple of the U.S. West's nearly dormant uranium operations, although
   residents near one of the mines say they fear an increase in
   radioactive threats.

   "Whatever Trump does, we'll be standing our ground to let the people
   know that we're not going to give up,'' said Yolanda Badback, a
   resident of White Mesa, a town of about 200 people who are members of
   the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe near a uranium mill in southern Utah.

.