A Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project ceremony held late last year commemorated the removal of a cumulative 15 million tons of radioactive uranium tailings, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management 2024 priority.
Office of Environmental Management
January 7, 2025
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MOAB, Utah ― A Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project ceremony held late last year commemorated the removal of a cumulative 15 million tons of radioactive uranium tailings, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) 2024 priority.
Officials display plaques highlighting the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project’s removal of a cumulative 15 million tons of tailings from the Moab Site during a ceremony in Moab, Utah, late last year. Pictured from left are U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center Director Jack Zimmerman, Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee Chair Mary McGann and DOE Office of Legacy Management Office of Site Operations Director Jay Glascock.
EM crews began removing tailings from the Moab Site in 2009. In recent years, they have transported approximately 1 million tons of tailings for disposal per year, resulting in an accelerated closure schedule. Currently, the site is projected to reach cleanup completion in 2029, with DOE looking at beneficial reuse plans for the land.
The ceremony was held in downtown Moab and was open to the public. Guest speakers included local community leaders and representatives from EM and DOE’s Office of Legacy Management.
The highlight of the celebration was the moving of a tile inscribed with the date that the 15th million ton was reached — Oct. 14, 2024 — from one plaque to another. The plaques are a set, representing the project’s two worksites: the Moab Site with the uranium tailings pile, and the Crescent Junction Site with the disposal cell.
The tile was moved from the Moab Site plaque to the Crescent Junction Site plaque by Mary McGann, chair of the Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee.
-Contributor: Barbara Michel
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