Western States Brace for a Uranium Boom as the Nation Looks to Recharge its Nuclear Power Industry

The U.S. says it wants to revive its atomic power industry, but it barely produces any nuclear fuel.

Thanks in part to new technology, mothballed mines have restarted, potentially carrying fewer environmental and human health risks than older mines.

But this uranium boom could unfold near some of the U.S.’s most cherished landscapes, where communities fear groundwater pollution and other threats.

With considerable federal and state support behind the industry, what will happen as the U.S pursues the nuclear option?

After years of federal efforts to revive nuclear power, old mines are stirring again in Wyoming, Texas and Arizona, while new ones line up for permitting expedited by a Trump executive order.

BAIROIL, Wyo.—The remote dirt road through dusty fields of sagebrush that John Cas