Uranium story a conspiracy theory

Did Hillary Clinton surrender 20 percent of U.S. uranium to the Russians, endangering us all, while she was the U.S. secretary of state?

I don’t think so.

I think what we have is yet another conspiracy theory that adds an apple, an orange and a pineapple and comes up with dubious traitors to America.

Here’s the apple: As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton signed off on a deal that allowed the Russian government’s uranium mining organization to purchase control of a Canadian mining company, Uranium One.

Uranium One had recently acquired a U.S. uranium producer owned by a big Clinton campaign donor. That producer accounted for about 20 percent of U.S. uranium reserves.

Here’s the orange: About the same time, Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment bank, paid former President Bill Clinton $500,000 to deliver a speech.

And the pineapple: The uranium deal gives Russia control of over 20 percent of our uranium.

Now, subtract evidence and you have the shaky conspiracy theory that the right is trumpeting all over the country at high decibels, while it calls for criminal investigation.

Now, let’s add some evidence.

In about 2007, a Clinton campaign donor sold his uranium-mining company to Uranium One.

In 2010, Uranium One agreed to sell a controlling stake in itself to Rosatom, the Russian government’s uranium mining monopoly.

Because of Uranium One’s U.S. holdings, though, the deal had to receive sign-offs from nine U.S. government agencies, including the Department of State.

Clinton signed off on it, as did the other eight agencies, and why not?

The law says U.S. uranium cannot go to Russia, because the Russians don’t have the license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

How much uranium? Not much.

U.S. uranium reserves are only about 1 percent of the world’s total, according to the World Nuclear Association. One-fifth of that, 20 percent, comes to about 0.2 percent of the world’s supply, and it has to stay home, anyway.

The largest reserves are in Australia, with 29 percent of the world’s total, and Khazakstan, with 13 percent.

Canada and Russia each contain about 9 percent of the world’s total, according to the nuclear association.

According to James Conca, writing in Forbes magazine, “The real reason Russia wanted this deal was to give Rosatom ... Uranium One’s very profitable uranium mines in Kazakhstan.”

Forbes is no friend of the left.

Now, about that speech.

Renaissance Capital regularly invites world leaders to speak at its events. It has hosted former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to Politifact, a fact-seeking website owned by Florida’s Tampa Bay Times.

Bill Clinton’s fee was his usual when Hillary was secretary of state.

All in all, the great uranium conspiracy looks more like a transfer of profits, not national security.

Now, did Hillary Clinton have a deal with the Democratic National Committee that shut out Bernie Sanders, not to mention other Democrat contenders, as she became the party’s 2016 presidential nominee?

I think Donna Brazile, the former DNC chair, speaks truth with that assertion.

That stinks but it’s civil, not criminal.

Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at:

stevenmhansen

@plateautel.net