President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that it has designated nearly 1 million acres in Arizona outside the Grand Canyon as a monument, a move that could further America’s reliance on Russia for sourcing uranium.
The monument designation will permanently prohibit new mining claims in the covered 917,618 acres, parts of which are known for having rich deposits of uranium, an essential material for generating nuclear energy, according to E&E News. The Biden administration is justifying the designation by pointing to the land’s cultural significance to local Native American tribes in accordance with its wider push for “environmental justice,” according to the White House.
President Joe Biden formally announced the monument designation during a Tuesday speech at Arizona’s Historic Red Butte Airfield, according to the White House. “I pledge to keep using all available authority to protect sacred tribal lands,” Biden said during his remarks, adding that “there’s more work ahead to combat the existential threat of climate change.”
The Senate voted overwhelmingly in July to approve an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would direct the Department of Energy (DOE) to prioritize actions to boost domestic production of two types of uranium to fuel U.S. nuclear reactors. Northern Arizona, through which the Grand Canyon runs, is the most active uranium-producing region of the state, which itself is one of the leading uranium-producing states in the U.S., according to the Uranium Producers of America and World Population Review.
Though the amendment did not mention Russia by name in its text, the bill was authored with Russia in mind, as the U.S. pays Russia about $1 billion annually to source uranium, Republican Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso said in remarks from the Senate floor on the day the bill passed. The Biden administration has repeatedly stated that it aims to enhance American energy security while also decarbonizing the domestic power sector.
