Controversial Energy Source of the ’80s Could Help the Power Crisis Now

Texas, as well as the United States as a whole, has a problem. We need more energy, and lots of it. With new data centers breaking ground across the country, and many in the Lone Star State, seemingly daily, our power supply is being thinned by a consistently growing demand. According to some, there’s a simple solution: uranium mining. Apparently, Texas is well-positioned to benefit from a nuclear renaissance, and as archaic as it may sound, the future of energy may rest in the past. 

In the ‘80s, the United States was the dominant leader in uranium mining, with large deposits in Wyoming, Colorado and Texas. Our shafts, like traditional burrowed mines, were abandoned after nuclear disasters, like Chernobyl, decreased general support and global prices. Domestic uranium mining became uneconomic and equally unpopular. So we began importing. Currently, the United States imports 98% of its uranium, or 32 tons per year, despite having its own sizable uranium reserves. 

“Since the ’90s, the U.S. started buying cheap Russian enriched uranium,” said Christo Liebenberg, cofounder of LIS technologies, a laser company operating in the uranium industry. “The consequences of that is that we stopped producing and mining our own uranium. The whole fuel cycle stopped… It decimated our nuclear industry.”

But then, as the current war between Russia and Ukraine worsened, former President Joe Biden subsequently signed a law completely banning the importation of uranium from Russia by 2028, making way for countries that still provide uranium to increase the price. In May, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders to incentivize the restart of the American uranium production industry.  

“We need to quadruple nuclear power by 2050,” said Liebenberg. “Quadruple. Not only do we have to build hundreds, if not thousands, of reactors in the U.S., it all starts with mining. We need to increase our mining capacity by 50 times compared to where we are today.”

The production of uranium as a fuel source is a multi-stage process that begins with mining and concludes with enrichment and pelletization for use. Currently, there are a handful of extraction points, only one conversion center, located in Illinois and a singular enrichment center in New Mexico. But that’s all going to have to change, and soon. 

“There’s no better time than now to start,” said the enrichment expert. “The uranium industry, the nuclear industry, is on absolute supercharge, and there’s a lot of funds available now. We’re experiencing a nuclear renaissance like never seen before.”

Nuclear energy, which uranium is an example of, is considered a clean energy source, having limited harmful outputs compared to fossil fuels. But that doesn’t eliminate the environmental hazards. Traditional mining has been abandoned in favor of an extraction process similar to fracking, a practice to which there has long been strong opposition in Texas. A chemical is pumped into the ground, dissolving the uranium, and allowing for it to be easily collected. There is a risk of groundwater contamination, which is why uranium remains unpopular amongst environmentalists.

“That is a concern, the groundwater contamination,” said Lienenberg. “If all else fails, the price of uranium is so high at the moment that they may as well go back to conventional methods and just start mining them with an open mine or underground mine.”

Texas has the second-largest deposit of uranium in the country, located along its coastline.  

It’s an inopportune time when the risk of water contamination is high, but companies are still setting up shop in the state to capitalize on the impending boom. Texas-based and historically less than environmentally friendly, enCore Energy has licensed uranium plants across the coastal plains. Uranium Energy Corporation, a singularly focused company laser-focused on uranium, is headquartered in Corpus Christi. 

Why Uranium?

The jet-setting nature of completing uranium production is inconvenient. But flying it across the globe is worth it for anyone who enjoys the modern luxuries of the digital age, said Liebeberg. 

“We all want our gadgets, right? We have phones, we have also electrical gadgets, electric vehicles now, they all have to be powered,” he said. “So there’s a huge demand for energy. And then came data centers as they have grown, it has sent the demand for electricity sky high.” 

Data centers, large-scale battery centers or any other type of open-plot super-computer system that has redeveloped the outskirts of major cities recently are a major concern. In all of the president’s executive orders, data center power supply was listed as a significant reason to bolster uranium production, as well as to reduce dependence on foreign nations. 

“The United States originally pioneered nuclear energy technology during a time of great peril,” reads a May order from the Resolute Desk. “We now face a new set of challenges, including a global race to dominate in artificial intelligence, a growing need for energy independence, and access to uninterruptible power supplies for national security.” 

Data centers, whether used personally or sourced from the grid, are heavily reliant on fossil fuels. Their carbon output is equally high as the water usage, so an energy solution that can meet demand, reduce CO2 emissions and can be domestically produced is ideal. Not to mention, uranium is highly potent. Just one teaspoon of uranium is equivalent to a metric ton of coal. 

“You look at the demand, and the demand is filled by data centers,” said Liebeberg. “The data center has brought new life into the nuclear industry. Before data centers became a significant concern, there was already a substantial resurgence of the nuclear industry because of the need to fight global warming.”