Renovated uranium facility in Duval County now producing yellowcake
- brittanyreed28
- Feb 7, 2024
- 1 min read
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Off of Highway 44 in Duval County between Freer and San Diego, an old uranium facility has been given new life.
The uranium plant, previously owned by Uranium Resources, is actually in Rosita and now owned by Encore Energy. The facility had not produced any uranium since 2008. The new owners put in just under $2 million to get the facility back up and running.
”Sat idle and decaying quite frankly since 2008. So, we came in and renovated it,” Executive Chairman for Encore Energy William Sheriff said.
The plant just produced its first batch of yellowcake, formed from a chemical process and eventually turned into fuel for nuclear reactors. That entire process take about 2 years from the time it’s extracted from non-potable water pulled up through injection wells.
”Timing was perfect before uranium was coming back. We knew but not too many people did so the price was right," Sheriff said.
Hundreds of folks showed up to the plant site to celebrate it's grand re-opening including former Governor and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.