Feds OK slurry blasts for Colorado uranium cleanup mess
Published Date: 8/14/2026
Notice
Summary
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving the green light for DISA Technologies to start cleaning up an old uranium mine waste site in Colorado using their special high-pressure slurry method. This means safer land without big environmental problems, and the work could begin soon with no extra costs to the public. Local communities and the environment will benefit from this smart cleanup plan.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
NRC Clears Uranium Waste Cleanup
The NRC issued an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact allowing DISA to conduct high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) cleanup at the Mary Ann abandoned uranium mine site in Montrose County, Colorado. DISA plans to process about 1,656 cubic meters (4,217 tons) of waste producing about 1,839 tons of fines concentrates, and the site must be left meeting NRC unrestricted-release limits (25 millirem above natural background).
Treated Water and Flocculant Use
The HPSA operations will use about 5,000 gallons of water per day and about 276 kg of an anionic polyacrylamide flocculant for the estimated 1,839 tons of fines concentrates. The EA estimates that if about 10,000 gallons of water remain at the end of operations, roughly 193 grams of flocculant could be present in that water and could be discharged via sprinkler to the site as irrigation water, but any discharged water must meet NRC, BLM, State of Colorado, and local requirements.
Daily Truck Transport of Contaminated Material
DISA plans to store fines concentrates temporarily onsite in containers and transport about one truckload per day offsite to a permitted facility (for example, DISA's planned storage facility in Naturita, Colorado). The State of Colorado is reviewing DISA's application for that storage facility, and transports will go to a permitted facility once authorized.
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