Moab Tailings Project

moabtailings.org | Moab UMTRA Project Information

Download all versions of the UMTRA Project Newsleter.
Read more >

Moab UMTRA Project

The U.S. Department of Energy has started a project to move 16 million tons of uranium tailings from the banks of the Colorado River, near the city of Moab, to a permanent disposal site 30 miles north, near the town of Crescent Junction. This project is called the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project.

The Moab Tailings Project Site is located approximately 3 miles northwest of Moab in Grand County, Utah, and includes the former Atlas Minerals Corporation (Atlas) uranium-ore processing facility. The site is situated on the west bank of the Colorado River at the confluence with Moab Wash. The site encompasses 439 acres, of which approximately 130 acres is covered by a uranium mill tailings pile.

Currently the Department of Energy is characterizing the Moab and Crescent Junction sites, developing the Remedial Action Plan and other supporting documents, building necessary infrastructure, coordinating transportation logistics, hiring appropriate personnel, and awarding contracts to perform the work. DOE is also conducting ongoing site operations and maintenance activities, consisting of maintaining site access controls, conducting radiological assessments and environmental monitoring, dewatering and stabilizing the uranium mill tailings pile, and implementing an interim action to clean up the ground water to address elevated concentrations of ammonia and other contaminants.