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- Title
Uranium mining and production: A legal perspective on regulating an important resource.
- Authors
Thiele, Lisa
- Abstract
The importance of uranium can be examined from several perspectives. First, natural uranium is a strategic energy resource because it is a key ingredient for the generation of nuclear power and, therefore, it can affect the energy security of a state. Second, natural uranium is also a raw material in relative abundance throughout the world, which can, through certain steps, be transformed into nuclear explosive devices. Thus, there is both an interest in the trade of uranium resources and a need for their regulatory control. The importance of uranium to the worldwide civilian nuclear industry means that its extraction and processing - the so-called "front end" of the nuclear fuel cycle - is of regulatory interest. Like "ordinary" metal mining, which is generally regulated within a country, uranium mining must also be considered from the more particular perspective of regulation and control, as part of the international nuclear law regime that is applied to the entire nuclear fuel cycle. The present overview of the regulatory role in overseeing and controlling uranium mining and production will outline the regulation of this resource from an international level, both from early days to the present day. Uranium mining is not regulated internationally; rather, it is a state responsibility. However, developments at the international level have, over time, led to better national regulation. One can note several changes in the approach to the uranium industry since the time that uranium was first mined on a significant scale, so that today the mining and trade of uranium is a well-established and regulated industry much less marked by secrecy and Cold War sentiment. At the same time, it is informed by international standards and conventions, proliferation concerns and a modern regard for environmental protection and the health and safety of workers and the public.
- Subjects
URANIUM; POWER resources; NUCLEAR energy; NUCLEAR weapons safety; INTERNATIONAL cooperation in the nuclear industry
- Publication
Nuclear Law Bulletin, 2013, p9
- ISSN
0304-341X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1787/nuclear_law-2013-5jz742tm15f1