The U.S. Energy Department said its new estimate for removing the tailings is $635 million to $835 million.
"This is a more realistic estimate," said DOE's Don Metzler, who oversees the cleanup, on Friday.
The Energy Department is removing 16 million tons of tailings from the site, about three miles from Moab, to stop chemicals like ammonia from seeping into the Colorado River. The river is home to several protected fish species and serves as an important water source to more than 25 million people downstream.
Previously, the price tag reached $697 million. Metzler suggested to the state Radiation Control Board that a new, longer timeline boosted the price. "If you push out the project 10 years, it's more expensive," he said.
The Energy Department awarded a contract for $98.4 million this spring to begin hauling the 16 million tons of uranium-mill waste 32 miles north to Crescent Junction. And construction has already started on a 250-acre landfill for the contaminated waste.
"It's surprising," said Joette Langianese, a member of the Grand County Council and the radiation board. "I don't know why it has gone up so high, whether it's higher fuel costs, construction costs."
The county, the state and Utah members of Congress are urging the Energy Department to step up the cleanup, bringing it back in line with a previous schedule that would have the job done by 2019 rather than the current projection of 2028. A bill in Congress seeks the quicker cleanup, but the House and Senate have yet to finalize the change.
Metzler said he didn't expect there to be any short-term delays in the cleanup even if Congress fails to pass the spending bill. Working off of last year's funding schedule, plus $16 million carried over from last year, will be plenty to keep going, he told the board.
Meanwhile, progress continues to be made. Metzler reported that 73 acres already has been cleaned up and 60 revegetated.
Also, the Energy Department said it has pumped 100 million gallons of contaminated water from the pile. The Energy Department says this volume is comparable to 151 six-foot deep, Olympic-sized swimming pools.
They have captured 449,250 pounds of ammonia and 19,000 pounds of uranium through special extraction/injection wells placed between the pile and the Colorado River.
fahys@sltrib.com
How it all began
* Uranium operations begin next to the Colorado River outside Moab in 1956.
* Atlas Minerals Corp. buys the plant in 1962 and processes uranium ore there until shutting down in 1984.
* The company files for bankruptcy in 1998, and its U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license lapses three years later.
* The Energy Department, the new owner, decides to move the tailings 32 miles north to Crescent Junction to protect the river and the environment from contamination leaching from the site into the river.
