Some heavyweights in the U.S. energy world want to see more uranium mined domestically. But exactly how is it mined?
Contrary to popular belief, uranium is everywhere: Traces of it pop up embedded within hundreds of minerals all around the world, and even in seawater. But more than 99 percent of it is the useless U-238, rather than the good stuff, known as U-235.
In the U.S., only three uranium mines are currently active. Similar to the fracking process, those mines extract uranium by pumping water into the earth and dredging up a water-uranium cocktail. The uranium is ...