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The Denver Post - Uranium CEO finds mine plans unwelcome <br />?j?. ikwcPage 1 of 2 <br />denverpost.clum <br /> <br />Z? I <br />denver & the west <br />Uranium CEO finds mine <br />plans unwelcome <br />Flany in Nunn fear the nuclear-fuel project <br />would destroy groundwater and lead to <br />economic disaster. <br />3y Monte iNhaley <br />Denver Past Sfaffi Vilriter <br />Rri:icie Last Updated: 07;'2412007 01:58:41 AM <br />MDT <br />Nunn - Company officials Thursday night tried <br />to quell fears that a planned uranium mine <br />near this town of 500 would cause <br />environmental devastation. <br />"The oversight by us and several government <br />groups will ensure this will be a good project," <br />said Richard Clement, president and chief <br />executive of Powertech Uranium Corp. <br />But many who crowded Town Hall to study <br />Powertech's plans said the mining would <br />destroy the Weld County town's groundwater <br />and lead to economic disaster. Some held signs <br />outside the meeting demanding the company <br />go away. <br />"We don't want them here at all," said Shari <br />Hiibel, who, with her husband, bought 70 acres <br />in Nunn two years ago for a horse stable. "But <br />there is no way we want to live here now," <br />Hiibel said. <br />Powertech is proposing a 5,760-acre <br />development that could produce 8 million <br />pounds of uranium - the material used to fuel <br />nuclear power plants. <br />Before any work is done, Powertech will have <br />to go through at least three years of project <br />reviews by federal, state and local agencies, <br />Clement said. <br />The proposed Centennial Project could <br />generate as much as $1 billion in revenue, <br />thanks to an emerging market for uranium. <br />Stores of processed uranium have nearly dried <br />up while demand is growing, with plans for up <br />to 100 new nuclear power plants around the <br />world, company officials say. <br />Powertech is proposing using an "in-situ" <br />mining process in which a solvent solution is <br />injected underground to dissolve uranium and <br />pump it to the surface. Although the process <br />causes some uranium and attached heavy <br />metals to dissipate into surrounding soils, it is <br />not enough to contaminate aquifers, the <br />company says. <br />"And if the water supply is affected at all, we <br />will work with the parties to make it right," <br />said Richard Blurbaugh, Powertech's vice <br />president of environment and safety. <br />Advertisement <br />Prir?t Powered By i ? ? , Dyr?anriics <br />http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6419188 7/20/2007