Judge invalidates planned mill's radioactive license
A judge has invalidated a license allowing the construction of the first new uranium mill in the U.S. in decades.
Denver District Judge John Mullen issued the ruling Wednesday regarding the mill Energy Fuels wants to build in western Colorado near the Utah border. He ordered the Colorado health department to conduct an administrative hearing to substitute for a 2010 public meeting on the matter in the next two months.
However Mullen rejected arguments from environmentalists who said health and safety protocols were not met, including de-commissioning and long-term care plans.
The state issued the license to Energy Fuels in March 2011. State health officials say they're reviewing the ruling.
Energy Fuels maintains the delay doesn't affect its operations. It doesn't plan to break ground on the mill this year.
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