Pillsbury Helps DISA Technologies Secure Groundbreaking NRC License to Remediate Abandoned Uranium Mine Waste

Across the western U.S., more than 15,000 Cold War–era abandoned uranium mine waste sites remain—many of which are located on or near tribal lands—posing long-standing environmental and health risks. Until now, cleanup options have been limited and costly. DISA’s patented High-Pressure Slurry Ablation (HPSA) technology represents the first scalable, affordable way to safely treat this waste. By cleaning and separating materials at the source, HPSA enables uranium recycling while greatly reducing the volume requiring long-term disposal.

With its new NRC license, DISA can now deploy HPSA systems under federal oversight to address AUM waste across multiple states—a major step toward large-scale cleanup, energy independence and responsible land stewardship. This milestone follows years of collaboration among federal agencies and tribal governments, including the Navajo Nation EPA, building on a successful EPA-funded Treatability Study completed in 2023.

For more information, click here. 

Pillsbury Energy partners Jeff Merrifield and Timothy Walsh and counsel M.C. Hammond provided DISA with the regulatory- and policy-related advice necessary to secure the NRC license. Yesterday, they were joined by NRC Chairman David A. Wright; Commissioners Matthew J. Marzano and Bradley R. Crowell; U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY); Deputy Director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office DeWayne Crank; and DISA leaders Greyson Buckingham and Stephen J. Cohen to commemorate this landmark cooperative effort between federal, tribal and private partners.

“This is the kind of American innovation that unites environmental remediation, national security, and economic revitalization,” Merrifield said. “It’s proof that when agencies work together, technology can turn legacy problems into lasting progress.”