Westinghouse Electric (Western Zirconium), Compass Minerals, formally Great Salt Lake Minerals!

Western Zirconium manufactures products for the commercial nuclear fuel industry and the military. Western Zirconium has interim status for on-site treatment and storage of production process wastes. Advanced nuclear plant designs. Nuclear fuel. Service and maintenance. Instrumentation and control systems. No other company is more focused on helping utilities around the world improve their plant technology, reduce outage times, reduce maintenance costs, and have access to the highest quality nuclear fuel. With world population expected to grow 25 percent in the next 20 years, the demand for electricity is expected to nearly double by 2030. To meet that demand, the supply of safe, clean and reliable electricity is essential. Increased economic output and improved standards of living will put a strain on the current energy supply, and with such a significant increase in energy demand, carbon emissions and other greenhouse gasses must be reduced to avoid any additional negative environmental impact.
Nuclear energy is the largest source of clean energy available. No other source can come close to its generating capacity. Consider this:
Nuclear has the highest capacity factors, or availability, of any source of electricity. It’s available 90 percent of the time, compared to 34 percent for wind and just 25 percent for solar.
Nuclear has the lowest production costs of any generating source.
Uranium, used to make nuclear fuel, has stable prices and is abundant worldwide, thus providing a high degree of energy security.
Westinghouse believes that the best energy policy is one that makes use of a balanced mix of generating sources. We’re proud to be the leading supplier of nuclear power plants that are helping the world meet electricity demand without emitting harmful greenhouse gasses.
When the era of nuclear energy began more than 50 years ago, we were there. Today, we're leading the way with a new generation of nuclear technology, helping the world meet growing electricity demand with safe, clean, and reliable nuclear energy.
Compass Minerals: By combining ancient techniques with advanced technologies, we annually produce salt, sulfate of potash (SOP) and magnesium chloride using the pond-based feedstock at our Great Salt Lake facility. Our 50,000-acre solar evaporation pond complex in Utah is one of only four in the world that can produce SOP from a naturally occurring brine source using solar evaporation.
Mineral-rich brine from the lake’s most remote areas is pumped into a series of shallow ponds where the sun naturally evaporates the water over a three-year span, leaving beds of naturally occurring crystallized minerals. The materials are then gathered, cleansed and processed to produce all-natural products.
The first mineral to precipitate from the brine is salt, which is packaged for consumer deicing, agricultural use or water conditioning. Salt may also be shipped in bulk for private and governmental agency deicing applications.
Next, a mineral feedstock capable of producing sulfate of potash (SOP) is deposited and must undergo additional processing to be ready for use. We harvest the SOP feedstock, crush it and feed it into our plant where it is mixed with brine to form a slurry. It is then agitated, cooled, crystallized, thickened and filtered to produce an intermediate product called schoenite. The schoenite is then converted to SOP in an equilibrium process where it is re-slurried with different brine, heated, crystallized as SOP, filtered and dried. It is then compacted and screened into our various grades of product. The SOP, sold under the name Protassium+®, is Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) approved for organic food production. Protassium+ improves the quality, yield and shelf life of high-value fruit, vegetable and tree nut crops.
The remaining liquid is primarily magnesium chloride, which can be used in numerous ways including roadway deicing, dust control and even as an early stage plant nutrient for wheat crops.
The Ogden location has operated on the Great Salt Lake in Ogden, Utah, since 1968 and became part of the Compass Minerals family in 1993. With roots dating back to the early 19th century, Compass Minerals history is one of hardworking miners, scientists, adventurers and entrepreneurs who depended on the compass for underground navigation as they sought the minerals that would help them prosper.
Today, the compass has an even greater meaning to the company. It’s a beacon of our ongoing commitment to seek innovative and efficient ways to meet the needs of everyday life.
Spanning from the U.K. to Brazil, Canada to the southern U.S., Compass Minerals has a rich history of enriching lives. Our first mine began operation in 1844. An era of progress and expansion soon followed.