Russian company seeks to buy U.S. uranium mining operations

[phantom power]

Washington (CNN) -- A Russian company is seeking to buy a controlling interest in one of the largest uranium extraction operations in the United States -- a sale that requires U.S. government review because of possible national security implications.

Uranium One USA, now a subsidiary of a Canadian company, operates a uranium processing facility in Wyoming and has assets in Utah, Texas and Colorado. The sale of the company's existing and pending operations could give Russia control of about 20 percent of U.S. uranium extraction capacity, Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials estimate.

...

Uranium One USA is involved in the "recovery" of uranium, a form of mining in which a solution is injected into an ore body and the uranium leaches into the solution, which is then extracted, said NRC spokesman David McIntyre. The company is licensed to produce up to 2.5 million pounds of uranium a year, it said.

Stockholders approved the sale August 31, Sattler said, but the companies are awaiting approval from numerous regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/09/24/russia.uranium.company/

[mattvermont]

1. does this not seem

counter to our security interests?

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Of course not. The Russians are white people.

:sarcasm:

--d!