Feb. 22, 2021, entitled "Long-Term Federal Management of Uranium Mill Tailings: Background and Issues for Congress" by environmental policy analyst Lance N. Larson: SUMMARY In the wake of increasing concerns in the 1970s about human health and environmental risks posed by inactive uranium mill tailings, Congress enacted the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA). Uranium milling operations generate uranium concentrate, also known as yellowcake uranium, and waste material, called tailings, which can harbor and liberate radioactive and nonradioactive constituents. Title I of UMTRCA authorized a remedial action program for uranium mill tailings sites that were inactive prior to 1978, which produced uranium concentrate under federal procurement contracts primarily for nuclear weapons and other defense purposes. Title II of UMTRCA authorized the regulation of uranium mills and tailings sites that were operating on or after the law's enactment, which largely produced uranium concentrate for civilian nuclear power plants. UMTRCA does not provide regulatory authority over uranium mining (the physical removal of uranium ore from the earth), waste material produced from uranium mining, or remediation of inactive uranium mine sites. The