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A small eastern Idaho company aiming to build a $55 million plant in the West to extract industrial gases from depleted uranium has narrowed its search to four sites, including two in Idaho.
International Isotopes Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Laflin said one of the Idaho sites is near Idaho Falls, where France's Areva NC Inc. plans a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant. The other Idaho site hasn't been disclosed.
The company also is considering sites in Lea County, N.M., where an Areva rival is building a separate uranium enrichment plant, and in nearby Andrews County, Texas.
Laflin has said his proposed plant could be anywhere on transportation routes between uranium enrichment plants that produce depleted uranium and the facilities where uranium waste is disposed. The four locations all promise a steady supply of depleted uranium hexafluoride, from which International Isotopes would extract high-value germanium fluoride gas needed for applications including etching silicon for microelectronics.
International Isotopes' plans are a sign uranium enrichment projects like Areva's or the one being built in New Mexico by European consortium Urenco could be economic development magnets for related businesses.
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