At some point last year, Dr. Dennis Stover, one of the founders behind the development of In-Situ Recovery Technology (ISR) for uranium, sent me an article about the start-up of the Clay West Project in South Texas. Clay West was the first commercially operated and fully licensed ISR uranium project in the world. As I read the article, I noted that 2025 would be the 50th Anniversary of ISR and something to be celebrated. So, what’s an anniversary without a celebration?
Last week, in Austin, Texas I had the honor and privilege of being at the Capitol when the resolution recognizing the anniversary was read in the House, and then a resolution was read in the Senate marking Texas Nuclear Day. We ended the day with a reception honoring the founders of the technology: Dr Dennis Stover, Harry Anthony, Wallace Mays and Bill McKnight (deceased).
Many thanks to my board of The Clean Energy Association of New Mexico for understanding my crazy desire to have this recognition in Texas. What Texas started, along with pilot projects in both Texas and Wyoming with companies including Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), Cities Service, EXXON, Mobil, as well as U. S. Steel, Union Carbide and Westinghouse, has resulted in a technology that extracts 60% of the global uranium production. All with wellfield technology that replaces the need for conventional mining. Learning and respecting our past is important, especially as we hope to move forward in New Mexico with this technology.
In Austin, I also learned that there was a shared effort between companies, the Texas Water Commission and Department of Health to develop a commercial license for Clay West. The Texas agencies had overseen numerous ongoing pilot tests while ARCO brought its experienced environmental team to work on the project, fresh from Prudhoe Bay. Government and industry experts collaborated to create permits that still serve as the foundation for today’s operating authorizations. While there have been significant refinements and enhancements to the technology, the essential basics remain the same as were demonstrated in the numerous pilot and commercial operations in south Texas during the 1970’s.
The regulatory framework that evolved in Texas became the basis for similar requirements in other States such as Wyoming, as well as Federal regulations now dictated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency.
And our MC for the reception, the infamous Hugo Belanga was helpful in bringing it all together to develop the regulatory framework, THEN was instrumental in educating Wyoming legislators as to the legislative development of Texas regulations. His efforts, not widely known, were extremely helpful for the development of commercial ISR projects in Wyoming.
The ISR recovery process now employed nationwide and globally was born and raised in Texas. God Blessed Texas.
