MOAB, Utah - EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project recently began doubling its weekly mill tailings train shipments from two to four.
The tailings are a sand-like material that remain from processing uranium ore for national defense programs. EM workers ship them by train from the Moab Site to a permanent disposal cell about 30 miles north in Crescent Junction, Utah.
Each train can transport up to 144 sealed metal containers with approximately 4,700 tons of tailings. The tailings are being shipped away from the Colorado River and placed in the DOE-constructed, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved disposal cell.
North Wind Portage, the project’s remedial action contractor, hired more than 20 new employees to support the increased production. Most of the new employees are from Utah.
“All along, we have been focused on safely removing the tailings as efficiently as possible," Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister said. “It feels great to see the project move additional material while putting more people to work."
The Moab UMTRA Project began shipping activities in 2009 and is more than halfway to completing its mission of relocating 16 million tons of tailings
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
