U.S. uranium mill needs Asian funds: Exec

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DENVER, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- If an energy company gets approval for a uranium mill in Colorado, it will have to get financing from Asia, an executive says.

Energy Fuels Inc. is seeking approval for a $140 million processing facility in western Colorado, near Naturita, an agricultural area, drawing water from the Dolores River.

The federal governments' and utilities' failure to encourage nuclear energy "just about requires us to look overseas (for funding)," Gary Steele, Energy Fuels' vice president for investor relations, told The Denver Post. "You have to go where the market is. Just pick an Asian country."

Energy Fuels has hired a Hong Kong agent to solicit bankers in China and elsewhere. "The product we provide is essentially totally fungible and can be used at any nuclear facility in the world," said chief executive Steve Antony. "We'd like to see it used here in the United States."

Only one conventional uranium mill still operates in the country, in Utah, making nuclear plants import most of their fuel from overseas, the newspaper reported.

Opponents last week submitted a study that concluded "expected positive impacts of the mill and associated mines will be relatively small, while the economic risks are substantial."

They are urging Colorado regulators to reject Energy Fuels' application.