The Navajo Nation and Energy Fuels Inc., the owner of the White Mesa Mill in Blanding, have reached an agreement for the future transport of uranium ore across the reservation into Utah.

The Navajo Nation lacks uranium-specific emergency plans as multiple agencies struggle to coordinate response for nuclear shipments.

The Navajo Nation has reached a settlement with a mining company that clears the way for transportation of uranium ore across the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. The agreement announced Wednesday settles a dispute over trucking ore from a mining operation just south of the Grand Canyon to a mill site in Utah.

After six months of negotiations, an agreement is in place. Uranium ore hauling will resume before the end of February, according to Curtis Moore, Energy Fuel's senior vice president for

A Navajo Nation official said the agreement with the company, which began the transports over objections by the tribe and local governments last year, was in in the tribe's "best interest" instead of a legal battle.

Colorado-based Energy Fuels will enhance some of its safety standards for shipping uranium from its mine near Grand Canyon National Park through the Navajo Nation, to its processing plant in southern Utah.