that ended the series in five games.

Less government regulation won’t spur more U.S. uranium mining by itself. The market matters. And while spot-market prices are up from several years ago, they’re down about a third from their recent high in early 2024.While some new uranium mining and processing projects have been announced, their number falls far short of a surge. That suggests prices need to rise — and stay there — for a true industry revival, said John Uhrie, a former uranium executive who now works in the cement industry.

“Until the price goes up dramatically, you’re not going to be able to actually put these places into operation,” Uhrie said. “You need significant capital on the ground.”Still, the industry is showing new life in the Southwest.Anfield Energy, a Canadian company, also looks to reopen the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill in southern Utah near Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It closed in the early 1980s. A uranium mill turns raw ore into yellowcake, a powdery substance later processed elsewhere into nuclear fuel.

Anfield officials did not return messages seeking comment on plans to reopen the mill and the Velvet-Wood mine.Energy Fuels, another Canadian company which ranks as the top U.S. uranium miner, opened the

about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the Grand Canyon in late 2023.

And just off U.S. 191 in southeastern Utah is a hub of the industry, Uranium Fuels’ White Mesa mill, the country’s only uranium mill still in operation.Then there was the call Emma Worrall took last year that she won’t soon forget.

“I remember saying ‘alligator?’ and my call-taker supervisor just looked at me and was like, ‘What is going on in your call?’” Worrall said.As a dispatcher in a busy call center in Wales, Worrall has to be unflappable, patient and able to efficiently handle the most stressful calls in which a delay of seconds or minutes could be the difference between life and death.

She understands that some people have a different gauge of what is life-threatening and an emergency. But it’s still frustrating when someone phones the emergency number to say they’re locked out of their house and cold or their dog jumped in a river and won’t swim back — calls she also fielded.“We just ask everybody to find alternative pathways before phoning for an ambulance,” she said. “The ambulance service is for those who are experiencing life-threatening problems.”