Responsible uranium: 3 questions for Nicolas Seigneur and Razane Doucmak (Geosciences Center)

In this video, professor Nicolas Seigneur and Dr. Razane DOUCMAK from the Geosciences Center at Mines Paris – PSL discuss a long-term research project conducted with Orano on a strategic issue: reconciling uranium production with environmental protection.

Thanks to the In-Situ Recovery (ISR) method, already used for 60% of global production, and scientific modeling tools developed by Mines Paris – PSL, it is now possible to predict both the volumes extracted and the long-term environmental impacts.

In her thesis, Razane DOUCMAK shows how these models can be used to simulate the effects on groundwater and evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation strategies. This is a major step forward in designing mining operations that take environmental issues into account from the outset.

And tomorrow? The ambition is clear: to jointly optimize the profitability and impacts of future mining sites in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and beyond, for other resources such as lithium and geothermal energy.

For more information:

• The project presented at Mines Paris Research Day 2025: Controlling the impacts of mining – Mines Paris Research Day | Theory and Practice
• The scientific publication: The first modeling, measurement, and confirmation of natural attenuation over a 30-year period in a uranium in-situ recovery context: Approaches and perspectives – ScienceDirect