For those of us who are interested in the developments pertaining to the domestic mining of uranium, you may find it noteworthy that perhaps the largest deposit of uranium ore in the United States is located in southwestern Virginia.There won't be any uranium mining in Virginia any time soon though, since there has long been a moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia. But, recently there have been proposals of conducting a study to determine whether uranium can be mined safely and what the potential impacts may be.
Last night, the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission held a public meeting in Chatham, Virginia, simply to hear public comments pertaining to the study of the feasibility of uranium mining. From some of the comments (e.g., likening mining to "brutal rape"), you would think that the study is tantamount to actually starting mining operations.
More information about the public meeting can be found here (incl. video). Some interesting (and often outrageous) comments from the meeting can be found here.
Comments
Marcel F. Williams
http://newpapyrusmagazine.blogspot.com/
http://djysrv.blogspot.com/2009/01/virginia-uranium-prospects-heat-up.html
As far as economics, the negative ramifications -- especially long-term -- are dire. Most mining towns are vacated by those who can afford to move -- your highest bracket taxpayers. Then there's 100years down the road - When VUI has long gone and left the residents of Virginia with the expense of monitoring the soil and groundwater around what would be a massive amount of underground mill tailings, etc.; That will have to be done FOREVER, and no one has talked about how that is going to be paid for. If a breach or leak in the tailings liners occur, which could very well happen, who is going to pay the very expensive costs of attempting to remediate, repair or replace that storage area?? Who is going to pay to ultimately decommission the mill? Those kinds of costs run into the multi-millions, so any short-term economic boost is simply not going to be comparable to the long-term expenses affilated with such a proposed project.
Sad how much ignorance exists about radiation even on the NEI blog.
Is the assumption that we Virginians aren’t smart enough or that the laws of science somehow apply differently in Virginia? Only an ignorant person would assume such things. You have to STUDY the project to know the answers.
Furthermore, the residents of the Coles Hill where the uranium deposits are located have lived and farmed that land for 150 years. In fact, they could have sold the mineral rights to a major corporation long ago, but the Coles family plans to be there for generations after mine is closed. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking they are a cut and run operation, and a decommissioning fund is required to operate such a facility.
The leases that Virginia Uranium Inc. signed with the owners of the mineral rights require that the land be restored to its approximate orginal contour once mining is complete. By law, Virginia Uranium Inc. must purchase a bond, before the first shovel hits the ground, to provide the financial assurances for reclamation. The bond is reviewed on an annual basis to make sure it will provide adequate coverage.
Let's talk about the "dire" economic implications. Pittsylvania County with a population of about 50K has relied on tobacco, textiles and furniture manufacturing. Those are mostly all gone... Unemployment is amongst the highest in the state. There are 1,400 farms in the county, generating about $55 million in revenue per year. Now compare this to the potential economics of the Coles Hill uranium project: 5 million lbs of uranium production per year x $70 per lb long term contract price = $350 million per year in revenue, with an estimated 20 year mine life.
2. The Chatham area is currently economically depressed. The influx of jobs and wealth can be of great help to the area, even if they aren't forever. Few people have guaranteed job stability for life. Why deny them the economic opportunity just because the uranium isn't infinite?
3. If we're going to talk about US energy independence, we'd better be ready to actually use some of our resources to get there.
But first things first. If the study says it can't be done or that the risk is too high, then by all means, fight it. Until then, participate in the process and don't presume that you know more than the experts, unless of course you happen to be an expert.