Uranium

Bob Burns and his son Murray LaHood-Burns, of Earthorizons Inc., install a radon mitigation system in a Rapid City home on March 24, 2023. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Living in SD means elevated risk for radon exposure, lung cancer

BY: - April 10, 2023

Donna Wright and her husband moved to the Black Hills in 2005 and built their home atop a mountain ridge overlooking the prairie, Bear Butte and the Black Hills near Sturgis. It was a “dream come true,” until the couple realized they were being exposed to 20 times more radon than the amount deemed safe […]

A sign displays the names of the state's three elected public utilities commissioners outside of their Pierre office in January 2023. (South Dakota Searchlight/Joshua Haiar)

NorthWestern Energy considers building a nuclear plant in South Dakota

BY: - February 28, 2023

An energy company is looking into the possibility of building a small nuclear plant in South Dakota. The company, NorthWestern Energy, is targeting a potential construction date in 2030. The plant would produce between 80 and 320 megawatts. Conventional, large nuclear reactors can produce over 700 megawatts.  “A decision has not been made whether or […]

A sign identifies a repository near Edgemont where 4 million tons of radioactive tailings from a former uranium mill have been buried since the 1980s. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Voters get their say on uranium mining in Fall River County

BY: - November 3, 2022

After years of arguing from opposite sides of a mining debate, Mark Hollenbeck and Susan Henderson are about to learn what their friends and neighbors think. Voters in Fall River County will consider a local ballot measure in the Nov. 8 general election. If approved, the measure would designate uranium mining as an unlawful nuisance […]