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Show U-future still looks good The uranium industry probably the biffjrest slnfrlo biiikler of Southeastern Utah over the decade has, during all its lilt'e been one marked by high peaks and low valleys. And following- a couple of years of busy land acquisition work brought about by the emergence of atomic power for peaceful purposes in the United States, it appears that things have cooled off again. The question (is, how serious is the current decline in activity, and how long will it last? Depending on who is doing the predicting, you can get all kinds of answers. Analyses, however, of reports published around the nation, do not cast as gloomy over-all picture as some would lead us to believe. be-lieve. The announced closure otf one major mining and milling operation in the Western Slope a few weeks ago. due, as the company phrased it, to the decline in the market for uranium concentrates in the nuclear nuc-lear electric n-ower industry, has been tough on those involved in the acquisition and sale of uranium ore-bearing ore-bearing properties in Southeastern Utah, according to reports. By the same token, development of new uranium mining properties in this area continues at a Q"ood pace, which would soem to indicate that the Moab area, at least, will not be particularly affected by the reported "limited demand for yellow cake." There is little question that the nuclear power industry has many problems that have resulted in a slowdown in announced starts for new plants. Problems Prob-lems ranging all the way from disposal of radioactive wastes to popular fears of accidents in metropolitan areas with nuckar reactors are plaguing the industry. What is needed, according to one national publication a few issues atro, is a record of reactor operating years whlich will give the industry the information it needs to provide solutions to the above-mentioned problems if they actually exist in the dimensions described by some. On the other side of the coin are important projections pro-jections which, to many observers including us, weigh heavily against the fears some have for the future of the uranium industry. One of these is the growth in the demand for electric power in the United States a growth predicted at ten per cent a year which means that caDacity of generating plants will have to double in the next ten years. Another big factor is the growing problem of air polution a problem which places massive roadblocks road-blocks in the way of large generating plants utilizing fossil fuels as a source for generating power. Compared to this mammoth problem, the troubles of nuclear power seem to shrink in size. This problem, coming to a head during a decade which a leading national magazine has called the "Decade of Environmental Awareness," can be the biggest single factor in the race for a power source. Moab uranium mining and milling executives, three years ago, when viewing the termination of government buying programs and the emergence of private industry in the uranium buying business, predicted pre-dicted something of a slowdown near the year 1970. They went on to predict, however, that gradual but marked improvement would be experienced from that point on. The slowdown predicted then appears to have arrived. There is lit.tle evidence, however, to lead us to any other conclusion except the one which views the uranium industry as one whic-hJ will continue con-tinue to play a very important part in the economy of Southeastern Utah. |