The Alta Mesa mine is a joint venture of enCore Energy and Boss Energy. The start-up of production at Alta Mesa will see enCore become the only U.S. uranium producer with multiple production facilities currently in operation. It is the second start-up in eight weeks for Boss Energy. The first shipment of yellowcake from the Alta Mesa mine is expected in sixty to ninety days’ time.
     The previously producing in-situ leach project includes the fully licensed and constructed Alta Mesa Uranium Central Processing Plant (CPP) and wellfield. It was acquired by enCore from Energy Fuels Inc in February of 2023 for one hundred and twenty million dollars. In December of 2023, the company entered into an agreement with Australia’s Boss Energy which resulted in Boss acquiring a thirty percent stake. The mine is operated by enCore.
     Paul Goranson is the EnCore CEO. He said that the company has advanced the project from acquisition to the completion of upgrades, wellfield installation and production within fifteen months. Alta Mesa is the company’s second producing asset to come online. The Rosita CPP, also located in South Texas, resumed production in late 2023 after being offline since 2008, and shipped its first uranium in March.
     Goranson said, “Our strategy at Alta Mesa is to initiate phased ramp-up from the wellfield located in Production Authorization Area 7 (PAA-7), increasing production progressively and consistently as additional injection and recovery wells are systematically tied into the production lines. As we continue to increase production from PAA-7, work has commenced on the second new wellfield at Production Authorization Area 8 with a goal of achieving full operational capacity by 2026. We are very pleased with our initial early production providing enCore with a second revenue source as we continue to build out the Alta Mesa Project.”
     The Alta Mesa CPP has a total processing capacity of one and a half million pounds of U3O8 per year with additional drying capacity of half a million pounds. It produced nearly five million pounds U3O8 between 2005 and 2013, when production was curtailed due to low uranium prices.
     Currently, oxygenated water is used to extract uranium from the orebody. It is being circulated in the wellfield through injection or extraction wells plumbed directly into the primary pipelines feeding the CPP. enCore said that the expansion of the wellfield will continue with production to steadily increase from the wellfield as expansion continues through 2024 and beyond,
     In April of this year, Boss Energy’s Honeymoon project in South Australia produced its first drum of uranium in more than a decade. Managing Director Duncan Craib said the start of production at the Alta Mesa Project is another important milestone in the company’s strategy to be a global uranium supplier with a diversified production base in tier-one locations.
Craib added, “With operations now ramping up at both Honeymoon and Alta Mesa, we are on track to hit our combined nameplate production target of 3 million pounds of uranium per annum. Our timing could hardly be better given the increasingly tight supply and demand fundamentals in the uranium market.”

Ambient office = 133 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 90 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 93 nanosieverts per hour

Blueberry from Central Market = 97 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 74 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 63 nanosieverts per hour

     Leaders from across the European nuclear industry have published a manifesto laying out their priorities for the new European Commission. Nuclear energy, they say, plays a crucial role in providing the E.U. with secure and affordable energy.
     Between June 6th and June 9th of this year, E.U. citizens voted to elect the 720 members of the next European Parliament. The new European Commission and its new President will be elected soon.
     The manifesto mentions that the Nuclear Alliance of the E.U. Member States who have committed to expanding their use of nuclear energy has recognized that nuclear power could provide up to one hundred and fifty gigawatts of electricity capacity by 2050 in the E.U. Nuclear power currently provides about one hundred gigawatts. This commitment aligns with the Net Zero Nuclear initiative which was launched in November last year during COP2. It aims to triple the world’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
     More recently, this support for the sector has also been matched by the European Commission during the Nuclear Energy Summit in March. This coincides with the launch of the European Industrial Alliance for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), as well as by the European Parliament’s adoption of an Own Initiative Report on SMRs.

     The manifesto says, “We have to build on this acknowledgement. For the EU to achieve a net-zero future for our society, it is important to fully support the pivotal role of nuclear energy alongside renewable energy sources.  We encourage European institutions to develop an ambitious strategy to accelerate the decarbonization and electrification of Europe’s industry. This strategy should acknowledge the significant role that nuclear energy plays in enhancing the EU’s strategic autonomy.”
     In the manifesto, nuclear industry leaders call on policymakers to do the following. Treat all net-zero technologies equally. Implement consistent and coherent policies which facilitate the deployment of nuclear power. Allow the nuclear industry to access EU funds and finance. Include the nuclear fuel cycle as an enabling activity under the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy. Ensure that low-carbon technologies are not discriminated against in taxation policies. Enable innovative nuclear power technologies to access EU funds beyond the Euratom program. Provide greater support for nuclear research. Support and invest in the development of a skilled nuclear workforce.

     The manifesto goes on to say that “The challenges are significant but not impossible to overcome if the European institutions, EU Member States’ governments and the whole nuclear community collaborate closely to meet them. The European nuclear industry is fully committed to fulfill its role. It is time to turn words into actions. Together we can make a difference.”
     Yves Desbazeille is the director general of the nuclear trade body Nucleareurope. He said, “Nuclear is a clean and sustainable technology which is why it essential the next Commission treat nuclear on an equal footing with other fossil free technologies. Our expectation is that future policy proposals will focus on goals – decarbonization, competitiveness, energy sovereignty – rather than on specific technologies.”
     Nuclear energy generates electricity in fourteen of the twenty-seven EU Member nations. It currently provides twenty-five percent of Europe’s electricity and fifty percent of its low carbon electricity.

Ambient office = 106 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 84 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 78 nanosieverts per hour

Bannana from Central Market = 104 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 99 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 86 nanosieverts per hour

     The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought highlights the urgent need to halt land degradation through global cooperation and innovative solutions including those offered by nuclear science. 
     For example, ‘isotope hydrology’ offers a unique and powerful tool to map water resources and therefore protect them. It is building drought resilience for future generations.
     Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo is affiliated with the National University of Costa Rica, which has been partnering with the IAEA to understand Costa Rica’s rainfall patterns. He said, “We now know exactly which areas need special attention, and we know how to protect them to ensure our water supply for now and the coming decades.”
     Isotope hydrology is a nuclear technique that reveals how water migrates through the land, ocean and atmosphere, providing information about the water’s origin, age, quality and movement.
     Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons, but each has a different number of neutrons. Water (H2O) is composed of two atoms of Hydrogen and one of Oxygen. Each drop has a unique isotopic ‘fingerprint’ or ‘signature’ that depends on where it comes from. Scientists can track the movement and pollution of water along its path through the water cycle.
     For sixty years, the IAEA has been supporting researchers around the world who gather and analyze water samples. The IAEA created the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation, the worldwide monitoring network built by the IAEA. It to provides governments and researchers with the long-term, large-scale data they need to understand climate processes at the local, regional and global scale.
     Information from the research helps countries meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and deliver on the Water Action Agenda.
     Beginning in 1962, water samples have been sent to the IAEA’s laboratories in Vienna.  The results provide scientists with detailed information on the origin and age of the samples. This information is entered into the largest online isotopic hydrology database.
     Lucia Ortega is IAEA Isotope Hydrologist. She said, “This large amount of data allows researchers to better understand the water cycle globally and locally. For example: when, where, and how groundwater is recharged. This is key to decision makers to manage water resources, particularly in the light of climate change.”
     The IAEA datasets and maps have been made freely available for analysts around the globe to study how changing global rainfall patterns affect local water resources.
     These aid countries in understanding how precipitation patterns change and how different rainfall events transfer to the groundwater system and help them also identify the exact source of water pollution when it occurs. 
     The IAEA is also promoting water cooperation through its Global Water Analysis Laboratory (GloWAL) Network. GloWAL was launched at the UN 2023 Water Conference.  It is a groundbreaking transformative tool in water analysis, allowing countries to independently generate chemical and isotopic water data. 
     The GloWAL network fosters collaboration, best-practices, knowledge-sharing and capacity building among laboratories bridging technical gaps between lower-, middle- and high-income countries. GloWAL’s objectives include facilitating independent data collection in low- and middle-income countries, reducing technical disparities, stimulating financial investment and promoting scientific innovation in water analysis. 
     The First Coordination Meeting of GloWAL Network will be held in Vienna next week (18-20 June 2024). 
     Jodie Miller is the Head of the IAEA’s Isotope Hydrology Section. She said, “The IAEA’s work in promoting the use of nuclear technologies in water resource management is instrumental in advancing global efforts towards achieving water security and sustainability. Through continued research, technical cooperation, and collaboration, we can harness the full potential of nuclear science to protect our precious water resources for a better and sustainable future.”

Ambient office = 86 nanosieverts per hour

Ambient outside = 136 nanosieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = 137 nanosieverts per hour

Black grape from Central Market = 95 nanosieverts per hour

Tap water = 87 nanosieverts per hour

Filter water = 79 nanosieverts per hour