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Uranium is not just a Rock: The Case of Arctic Yellowcake

1,823 views · Published 14 March 2013 · 56:26 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: Center for Strategic & International Studies · 2013 · Education

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Featuring: 
Cindy Vestergaard
Visiting Fellow, CSIS Proliferation Prevention Program
Moderator: 
Sharon Squassoni 
Director and Senior Fellow, CSIS Proliferation Prevention Program 

Wednesday, March 13 
9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
B-1 Conference Center, Room C
CSIS 1800 K. St. NW
Although a lot of recent attention has focused on oil and gas in the Arctic, the potential for another big reserve and new supplier of uranium in the Arctic could turn some energy markets upside down. The Kvanefjeld project in Greenland is potentially the world's fifth largest reserve of uranium. For the past 25 years, extracting uranium in Greenland has been prohibited by a 'zero tolerance' policy on mining radioactive elements in both Greenland and Denmark. In 2009, however, the Greenland Self-Government acquired full authority over its natural resources, a major step for the island's development and economic independence. Today, the public debate centers not only on whether to lift the ban and allow uranium extraction as a by-product of Kvanefjeld's massive reserves of rare earth elements, but also how to ensure a nationally-appropriate and robust regulatory body is built from scratch.
CSIS and the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) are pleased to invite you to a discussion with Cindy Vestergaard, a visiting fellow in the CSIS Proliferation Prevention Program, as we explore the challenges facing Denmark and Greenland as they consider how Greenland might become one of the world's top five suppliers of uranium. Dr. Vestergaard will report on the impact of the March 12, 2013 Greenlandic elections on the zero tolerance policy.

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