OPENING CREDITS

STEVE ANTONY (CEO, ENERGY FUELS)

Can everybody hear me okay out there?

Uh, let’s talk a bit about the industry in general where our project is situated. Of course, it’s the uranium mining industry, nothing new to you people. The supply and demand got such that we could reopen these facilities, build this mill, and we are going to bring that to reality so you can reap the benefits from that along with the company.

^{DIANNA REAMS}

^{I would like to take a minute and}

^{introduce the Naturita mayor, Tami}

^{Lowrance, back there.}

^{TAMI LOWRANCE}

^{As the mayor of Naturita, I’m very}

^{excited and hopeful that in six to}

^{eight months we’re going to start}

^{seeing ore trucks rolling through}

^{the town, we’re going to see the}

^{mining picking up, and we’re going to}

^{see the milling moving forward.}

^{ELIZABETH SMITH}

^{The towns of Naturita and Nucla are}

^{located in the west end of Montrose}

^{County. We’re here in the park in}

^{Naturita today. We are four miles}

^{away from Nucla, and right here in}

^{the Paradox Valley, the Piñon Ridge}

^{Mill is going to be built.}

^{MAN AT PICNIC}

^{The mill will give us life again.}

^{KARLA WILLIAMS}

^{When the mill comes through my son}

^{is going to be able to come home}

^{and be a dad to his kid. He is a}

^{uranium miner. Once the mill opens}

^{then all the mines around here will}

^{be opening, and it’s just going to be}

^{a good thing for us.}

^{OBAMA CLIP}

^{Nuclear energy remains our largest}

^{source of fuel that produces no}

^{carbon emissions, and that means}

^{building a new generation of safe,}

^{clean nuclear power plants in this}

^country.

^{NEWS REPORTERS V.O.}

^{A new uranium mill is setting up}

^{shop in western Colorado.}

Piñon Ridge Processing Mill will be in western Montrose County.

Mill jobs will offer between forty to seventy-five thousand dollars a year.

Energy Fuels tells me the material will be converted into fuel rods to meet the growing demand of nuclear power plants around the world.

^TEXT

^{Energy Fuels plans to have the}

^{Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill}

^{operational in two years.}

^{AYNGEL OVERSON}

^{I don’t want to hear how bad my}

^{food is okay? I like to convince}

^{myself that it’s the yummiest food}

^ever.

BROOKE

Am I dicing these or...

^AYNGEL

^Yeah

^{ED OVERSON}

^{That’s a butter knife Brooke.}

BROOKE Yeah I know.

Yeah. It works better than a knife knife.

^GRANDMA

^{Oh it does?}

^ED

^{I was doing my laundry down at the}

^{laundromat in Naturita and she was}

^{there and we just started talking.}

^{We’ve been married for almost 9}

^{years. I was driving over a 100}

^{miles a day just back and forth to}

^{work, and I did that for around 10}

^{years. You can’t spend that much}

^{quality time with your family and}

^{everything. Not really too happy}

^{about it but for 3 years I’ve been}

^{out of work.}

^AYNGEL

^{We were on food stamps and}

^{Medicaid. We still don’t have}

^{anything, no food, no insurance.}

^{But we’ve got grandma. She’s been}

^{helping us out.}

^BROOKE

^{You want some salad grandma?}

^GRANDMA

^{Yeah. Just a little bit.}

^ED

^{Oh, give her more than that.}

If the mill comes in, I’ll try and get on with them. She has issues about it but I’m good. Yeah there could be an accident or something explode or something like that but,

^{I mean, it’s worth the risk for us.}

^AYNGEL

^{I would have problems with him}

^{underground mining. That would be}

^{where I would have a real problem}

^{if something collapsed or something}

^{but, we’ve got to eat, man. I don’t}

^{want to risk him but, you go from}

^{sixty some thousand dollars a year}

^{to nothing overnight, you kind of}

^{... we’ve done good being poor but}

^{we kind of miss having money.}

K.O.T.O RADIO - STEPHEN BARRETT

This is the K.O.T.O community radio

news in Telluride. In the headlines, the environmental group Sheep Mountain Alliance has sued Montrose County over its decision to allow a new uranium mill to go in the Paradox Valley. The group alleges that Montrose County commissioners made a backroom deal with the Energy Fuels Corporation to consider the mill in an area zoned for agricultural uses. Jennifer Thurston is Sheep Mountain’s campaign coordinator.

Is Sheep Mountain more concerned with bringing energy development in the west end to a halt or is it specifically this mill in the Paradox Valley?

^JENNIFER

^{Sheep Mountain is opposed}

^{to the Piñon Ridge Mill in Paradox}

^{Valley. You know, we’re not taking}

^{on the entire uranium industry,}

^{we’re not taking on nuclear power.}

^{It’s a flawed facility in a bad}

^{location, in a beautiful spot that}

^{could be put to better use and it’s}

^{not the right choice for our}

^{regional economy.}

Uranium is radioactive. You can’t see it or smell it. It’s invisible and that’s what could potentially be harmful.

God, it still says 7.5.

Uranium is a big personal issue. My father spent the last few years of his life fighting this nuclear ^{waste dump. He died in 1993, he was 44 and he had leukemia, and we will of course never know exactly why. Was he exposed to radiation? Certainly.}

That’s one reason why it’s important for me to do this work, because he can’t do it anymore and it goes on and on and on.

^TEXT

^{The new uranium mill must be}

^{approved and permitted before}

^{Energy Fuels can break ground.}

COUNCILMAN

You have three minutes to speak…

^{LOCAL MAN}

^{This area needs this mill.}

LOCAL OLDER MAN

You’re being asked to issue a special use permit in an agricultural zone for a heavy industry that will leave a toxic footprint for thousands of years.

^{LOCAL MAN}

^{They’re talking about the global}

^{warming and all that. If we go to}

^{nuclear power it will stop a bunch}

^{of that global warming stuff.}

^{LOCAL MAN}

^{I think it’s the height of}

^{arrogance to believe that mankind}

^{can safely manage and contain a}

^{substance that remains lethal for}

^{800,000 years.}

^{LOCAL WOMAN}

^{It’s as safe as food as we have all}

^{been told. Would anybody like to}

^{share some of that? It’s wonderful.}

^{It’s just perfect. It’s safe.}

^{LOCAL WOMAN}

^{Why do people in San Miguel County}

^{think they need to tell us what is}

^{good for our community. This is our}

^{home. We support the mill, we}

^{support Energy Fuels.}

^{WYNOMA FOSTER}

^{The Navajo, we call uranium}

^{“leetso.” I’ve heard stories}

^{refer to is as the serpent, like a}

^{snake. There’s nothing wrong with}

^{it, if you leave it alone in the}

^{ground. But once you start messing}

^{with it, extracting it, that’s}

^{when you anger it.}

^{STEVE ANTONY}

^{Why uranium? Twenty percent of the}

^{U.S. electricity is generated by}

^{these nuclear reactors. 104}

^{reactors. Four to five millions}

^{pounds a year.}

^{LOCAL MAN}

^{They’re liars! They clearly}

^{lied to you this evening. They have}

^{clearly demonstrated themselves}

^{to be dishonest individuals.}

LOCAL WOMAN

Am I a second-class citizen?

LOCAL MAN

If you don’t like it, you can leave!

LOCAL WOMAN

This is not democratic!

COUNCILMAN

They’re the applicant. You’re not the

applicant.

COUNCILMAN

Have you been up here before? No, no. Sorry.

^{LOCAL WOMAN}

^{The one thing that they told me that}

^{you don’t want is to have a uranium}

^{mill in your community, no matter}

^{how desperate you feel your}

^{community is. I’m really}

^{disgusted, and I’m against this}

^mill.

^{LOCAL WOMAN}

^{It upsets me greatly when people}

^{get up here and disparage the}

^{intelligence of our residents. We}

^{do know the dangers of mining}

^{uranium, however we’re also aware}

^{that this is the first mill to be}

^{built in thirty years. There’s going to be new regulations that were not in place thirty years ago.}

MARIE TEMPLETON Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

BRIDGE PLAYER

I see that… but we beat four.

^{BETTE NICKELL}

^{But anyway, I guess one of the concerns is that I hear a lot of opposition about the mill when I don’t think people really understand…}

^{MARIE TEMPLETON}

^{I’m sure they don’t.}

^{BETTE NICKELL}

^{How the mill is going to be operated, how, you know, everything is going to happen there.}

^{MARIE TEMPLETON}

^{Or anything about uranium, or, you know.}

^{Remember when we used to go to conferences and tell them we’d come from Uravan or Nucla and they’d ask if}

^{we glow in the dark?}

BETTE NICKELL Absolutely.

^{We moved to Uravan on my sixth}

^{birthday in 1948. Uravan is in the}

^{bottom of a canyon. It was a}

^{unique place to grow up. It was a}

^{one bedroom house with no running}

^{water. The electricity was provided}

^{by the company because they used it}

^{to run the mill, but they shut it}

^{off at nine-o-clock at night. At a}

^{quarter to nine, my dad would say a}

^{couple of choice words, light the}

^{lantern and we would go to bed.}

^{MARIE TEMPLETON}

^{Uravan was a real cliquey town. You}

^{had the bosses, and then you had}

^{the mill workers, and then you had}

^{the miners.} Everybody would get out there after the men returned from work and have marshmallow and weeny roasts and we’d play ball.

^{BETTE NICKELL}

^{We had a swimming pool. Every kid}

^{in town could swim and we swam from}

^{morning till night. When I moved}

^{there, I stood and looked down at}

^{the river and it was a lot of}

^{different colors. It was beautiful.}

^{There were browns and kind of}

^{yellows and sort of a pretty bluish}

^{green, and I thought, we’ve moved}

^{to a fairy land. But it was the}

^{tailings they used to dump in the}

^{river, that’s what it was.}

This is the way you would head into town but they have it blocked off right now so we’re not going to be

able to drive down into that area, but it’s interesting you know. It says it may contain radioactive materials. It’s very hard to see what was kind of a hub of activity now that’s nothing more than just leveled

ground. I don’t know but I guess the cleanup is done, and maybe they just wait for nature to grow back and take over.