Wyoming, in the way to Huge Expansion of Nuclear Support

Wyoming is the nation's largest coal producer, with over 400 million tons of coal produced in the state each year. In 2006, Wyoming's coal production accounted for almost 40% of the nation's total coal creation. The Great Plains region of the U.S. Midwest is often referred to as the Corn Belt, comprising much of the nation's undeveloped production. Wyoming is the powerhouse. Almost every resource that fuels cars, planes, trains and power plants in the United States is extracted in the Cowboy State, including oil, natural gas, coal, sodium bicarbonate and uranium.

 Total uranium production in the United States for nuclear power generation is at present about 4 million pounds per year. Coal-fired power plants produce almost 95% of the electricity generated in Wyoming. The state's average retail price of electricity is 5.27 cents per kilowatt hour, the 2nd lowest rate in the nation. Wyoming has had numerous mine disasters. 

The worst occurred in Hanna on June 30, 1903, when an explosion in one of Union Pacific's mines killed 169 miners. Wyoming coal is shipped to 35 other states. The coal is highly desirable because of its low sulfur levels. On average, Wyoming coal contains 0.35 percent sulfur by weight, compared with 1.59 percent for Kentucky coal and 3 to 5 percent for other eastern coals such as West Virginia. Uranium has been mined in the Great Divide Basin, which cuts through south-central Wyoming up to its northwest corner, for more than 40 years.