Yellowcake Towns

Uranium Mining Communities in the American West

Michael A. Amundson

• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN: 9780870817656, 9780870816628
• eBook ISBN: 9780870817137
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Michael Amundson presents a detailed analysis of the four mining communities at the hub of the twentieth-century uranium booms: Moab, Utah; Grants, New Mexico; Uravan, Colorado; and Jeffrey City, Wyoming. He follows the ups and downs of these "Yellowcake Towns" from uranium's origins as the crucial element in atomic bombs and the 1950s boom to its use in nuclear power plants, the Three Mile Island accident, and the 1980s bust. Yellowcake Towns provides a look at the supply side of the Atomic Age and serves as an important contribution to the growing bibliography of atomic history.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. From Weed to Weapon: U.S. Uranium, 1898–1945
• 2. To Stimulate Production and in Interest of Security: The First Cold War Uranium Boom, 1946–1958
• 3. Uranium Company Towns in the American West
• 4. The Uranium Capital of the World I: Moab
• 5. The Uranium Capital of the World II: Grants
• 6. Allocation, Protectionism, and Subsistence: Changing Federal Policies to Preserve Domestic Producers, 1958–1970
• 7. Creatures of Uncle Sam: Yellowcake Communities During the Allocation and Stretch-out Periods
• 8. The Commercial Boom and Bust: Federal Policies and the Free Market, 1970–1988
• 9. Yellowcake Towns During the Commercial Boom and Bust, 1970–1988
• 10. Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index