Capital Research
Re-Visiting Regulations Gone Awry
Forty years ago, the U.S. was the world leader in the production of rare earth oxides and critical metallurgical materials derived from rare earth metals.
Then, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed to apply the label of “source material” (i.e., radioactive source material) to all mine tailings (waste rock) that contained concentrations of radioactive thorium or uranium above .05 percent content. The regulations define any processed or refined material with thorium and/or uranium concentration above .05 percent as source material.
They could be enforced because virtually all countries were members of International Atomic EA, especially mining countries. Specific to the U.S., the Nuclear Regulatory Commission further upgraded U.S. safeguards on nuclear material, mirroring the International Atomic Energy Association regulations.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s language includes all U.S. mine tailings and material processing, not just tailings from uranium mining.
Because rare earth production is typically associated with the thorium and even uranium content from the same ore materials, the new regulations meant that rare earths, especially heavy rare earths, would no longer be processed from mine tailings that exceeded the .05 percent source material concentration limit. The regulations would also prohibit rare earths processing from phosphate tailings because of their thorium content, when in excess of .05 percent.
For the rest of this article: https://capitalresearch.org/article/americas-rare-earth-ultimatum-part-4/