https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesco.../#18cece6b7b55
Claims of Clinton-Russia Uranium Scandal Are A Real Empty Barrel
James Conca
Those U.S. facilities obtained by Russia produce almost nothing. The uranium deposits are of relatively poor grade and too costly to compete on the uranium market. But the facilities do have good milling capacity to process ore, if anyone gives it to them, which hasn’t happened in about 10 years. Theoretically, they could process 20% of our ore, but that will never happen. Uranium One couldn’t give these facilities away.
Candidate Trump jumped on this issue during the 2016 campaign trail last year, but as Secretary, Clinton was not involved in the committee review, never intervened on the matter and there were several other agencies involved in the recommendation.
It is still not clear why no one at the FBI alerted the Obama Administration to the Russian kickbacks, extortion threats and money laundering before these decisions were made. One theory is that the United States was still seeking to ‘reset’ its relationship with Russia and was also trying to get Putin on board with our Iran nuclear deal. But in the end, this Russian deal just wasn’t that important and had no national security ramifications.
As Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute, described it, Russia’s purchase of the company ‘had as much of an impact on national security as it would have if they set the money on fire. That’s probably why (all the U.S. agencies involved) approved it.’
