Drive for Nuclear Power Boosts Uranium Industry — And Tribal Health Concerns in Southwest

Drive for Nuclear Power Boosts Uranium Industry — And Tribal Health Concerns in Southwest

WHITE MESA, Utah — On a hot April day, Malcolm Lehi maneuvered his Jeep Wrangler over a rough dirt road past junipers and sagebrush in search of Entrance Spring on land long connected to his tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute. The cool, mossy spring lies just across the highway from White Mesa Mill, the nation’s only remaining conventional uranium mill, which produces yellowcake for nuclear power fuel. For decades, the mill has sparked debate over whet…

Drive for Nuclear Power Boosts Uranium Industry — And Tribal Health Concerns in Southwest - Health Care Today

WHITE MESA, Utah — On a hot April day, Malcolm Lehi maneuvered his Jeep Wrangler over a rough dirt road past junipers and sagebrush in search of Entrance Spring on land long connected to his tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute. The cool, mossy spring lies just across the highway from White Mesa Mill, the nation’s only remaining conventional uranium mill, which produces yellowcake for nuclear power fuel. For decades, the mill has sparked debate over whet…