From about the 1960s to the mid-1980s, the United States was a leader in uranium mining. But domestic production of the mineral, which is primarily used as fuel for nuclear reactors, has since fallen off a cliff. “A lot of this was because it was a government priority. And we strategically used government funding and subsidies to support it. However, what kind of started happening during the 90s is we saw a de-prioritization away from uranium,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Several high-profile nuclear accidents, ... (full story)