Learning from the past to provide a brighter future. Grants Energy is committed to protecting the People, lands, air and water of New Mexico by developing an environmentally friendly process for the supply of fuel to the nuclear power industry.
Respect, integrity, and transparency. By working together with our local communities, we can produce the most environmentally friendly, sustainable, domestic supply of fuel to power the energy needs the country today and for the future.
Empower a Cleaner Future
Grants Energy gratefully acknowledges the Native Peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather and work, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home in McKinley and Cibola counties.
Clean water, air, and land are critically important to our local tribal communities. Grants Energy is committed to using the most environmentally friendly ISR processes possible.
In 2009, the U.S. the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provided an assessment of domestic ISR operations. The NRC did not find any indications that ISR degraded or impacted nearby drinking water sources.
The uranium ore is located in the Westwater, 3,500 feet below the surface. It is beneath several hard shale and sandstone layers. This depth is equivalent to three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. This depth and natural geologic boundaries protect the shallower municipal water sources from potential contamination.
Grants Energy is committed to learning from the past and ensuring that our communities are not exposed to conventional mining hazards. With ISR, there are no tailings, no blasting, no tunneling, and no open pits. In addition, ISR facilities do not produce large volumes of greenhouse gas emissions.
In the 1950s to 1980s, conventional uranium miners were exposed to radiation levels greatly exceeding what would be allowed today. Radiation hazards are low at ISR facilities and Grants Energy follows stringent federal safety standards to protect workers and to ensure that exposure remains within occupational limits.
ISR operations are conducted in phases which minimize its active footprint and aesthetic impact. Once production of an area is completed, reclamation commences. Reclamation typically includes recontouring and re-seeding the area with native vegetation to support grazing and/or wildlife, returning the land to its original use.