Building support for uranium mining in VirginiaANS Nuclear CafeJanuary 14, 2013, 11:00AM|Rod AdamsOne of the single most valuable pieces of energy real estate in the United States is located a few miles outside of Chatham, Virginia, less than an hour's drive from my home. Millions of years ago, natural forces concentrated about 119 million pounds of uranium in a relatively small volume of what is now a cow pasture. That is enough raw material to supply all of the nuclear power plants in the United States with all of their fuel needs for a little more than two years. If valued at today's suppressed, post-Fukushima market price, the deposit is worth about $7 billion.Unfortunately for the people who own the property and for the potential employees in the area where the deposit is located, it is currently illegal in Virginia to mine for uranium. The good news is that the moratorium on uranium mining is on the agenda for this year's legislative session. The legislators will not be making a decision in a vacuum; there have been a number of carefully conducted studies performed during the past 18-24 months that provide valid scientific and economic information. Not surprisingly, there are also a number of groups that are actively pushing their own views of the situation.Much of the rhetoric produced by the mining opponents has been unscientific storytelling aimed at spreading irrational fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The opponents have attempted to make the case that communities located dozens of miles away from a modern uranium mine are at risk of their water being contaminated with materials that harm their health. They have claimed that an underground mine would produce excessive noise, that a mine using rather mild solvents like carbonated water would produce noxious odors, and that a uranium mine extracting and shipping approximately 2,000 tons of metal per year would put an unmanageable burden on local roads.It has been disturbing to read that communities full of people who should know better have decided to strongly oppose the uranium mine. Several cities and towns in the Hampton Roads area, which is home to a nuclear shipbuilding yard, several nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, more than half a dozen nuclear-powered submarines, and the two-unit Surry nuclear power station have decided that a well-regulated uranium mine located a few hundred miles away is an unacceptable risk.One of the more frustrating arguments that the opposition has recently started to make is that hosting a uranium mine would lower property values for people living many miles from the site because of the supposed stigma that would be associated with the mine. The only possible reason for a widespread stigma that reduces property values is the negative public relations effort being conducted by the people opposed to the mine.It is an argument that is almost as convoluted as the notion that a technology is "too controversial" to develop-when looking at the topic from the point of view of the very groups that have created the controversy.On Sunday, January 13, 2013, the Roanoke Times published an op-ed titled Democrats should embrace uranium mining that was purposely aimed at breaking down barriers between the traditional factions associated with nuclear energy decision making.Andrea Jennetta, who publishes Fuel Cycle Week and recently began blogging at I Dig U Mining, and I collaborated on that piece because we both understand the science, recognize the exceedingly low risk, and are well aware of the benefits of using uranium as a power plant fuel compared to using coal, oil, and natural gas.We described the environmental benefits, the economic benefits, and the natural fit between uranium mining and Virginia's history of nuclear energy enterprises. The state has been home to nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities for about 50 years, it hosts four commercial nuclear reactors, provides the technical headquarters for two nuclear plant design organizations, and supplies excellent educational institutions. Andrea and I know that uranium mining can be done safely and we are convinced that there are few places in the world more capable of safely hosting a new production facility. Here is the conclusion of our op-ed:We puzzle over why Virginia Democrats automatically reject the findings of several economic studies on uranium mining in Pittsylvania County. Each shows a measurable improvement in the local economy and the creation of hundreds of new family-wage jobs, high-tech skills and increased funding for math and science education as a result of allowing the mine to be developed.At the end of the day, we are urging Virginia Democrats to end the moratorium on uranium mining in the commonwealth. In doing so, they will be taking a huge step toward creating the kind of communities in Southside that reflect Democratic values: fighting climate change, providing equitable opportunities, building strong public education systems and creating prosperity for all.Of course, I would be personally energized if the Republican Party decided that they wanted to compete to see which party could be the most supportive of safe extract of uranium. After all, that fuel is one of the basic components of a technology that offers a terrific opportunity for human society to increase its prosperity while reducing its current production of billions of tons per year of waste gases that have no place to go other than into our common atmosphere._________________________ AdamsRod Adams is a nuclear advocate with extensive small nuclear plant operating experience. Adams is a former engineer officer, USS Von Steuben. He is the host and producer of The Atomic Show Podcast. Adams has been an ANS member since 2005. He writes about nuclear technology at his own blog, Atomic Insights.Tags:coles hilluraniumuranium miningShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
EPA awards $220 million in uranium mine cleanup contractsThe Environmental Protection Agency has awarded three contracts for cleanup efforts at more than 50 abandoned uranium mine sites in and around the Navajo Nation in the southwestern United States. The Navaho Area Abandoned Mine Remedial Construction and Services Contracts, worth up to $220 million over the next five years, were awarded to the Red Rock Remediation Joint Venture, Environmental Quality Management, and Arrowhead Contracting, the agency announced on February 11.According to the EPA, the cleanup work is slated to begin later this year, following the completion of assessments in coordination with the Navajo Nation EPA, the tribe’s environmental agency. The sites are in New Mexico’s Grants Mining District and 10 Navajo Nation chapters. The companies selected have experience working on hazardous waste sites across the country, including cleaning up other abandoned mine sites in the Southwest, the EPA said.Go to Article
DOE lists five stories to watch in 2021Despite all the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. nuclear energy community pulled out some big wins in 2020, and this year could be even bigger, according to the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.From deep space exploration on Mars to a historic new reactor coming online in Waynesboro, Ga., 2021 will be a record-breaking year for the industry—both good and potentially bad.Find the full details on the DOE-NE website.Go to Article
IAEA confirms Iran working on uranium metal for reactor fuelIran has started work on uranium metal-based fuel for a research reactor, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and Tehran said on Wednesday. Kazem Gharib Abadi, Iran’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed that the country has started working on the fuel, saying that everything has been reported to the agency.Iran's action is the latest breach of its nuclear deal with six significant powers as it presses for a lifting of U.S. sanctions.Go to Article
Congress set to pass year-end funding billThe final text of the approximately 5,600-page Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 was released on December 22. While the timing of final passage is still fluid, the Senate was expected to approve it and send it on to President Trump to sign into law, according to John Starkey, American Nuclear Society government relations director.Below are some key funding highlights from the legislation pertaining to nuclear energy.Go to Article
Uranium mining settlement could fund new cleanup industryThe Santa Fe New Mexican, in its October 24 edition, reported on a study by the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research that found that the state could use money from a nearly $1- billion federal mining settlement to create a new industry around the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines in the Southwest. Go to Article
New South Wales declines to back bill lifting uranium mining banThe government of Australia’s New South Wales (NSW)—a coalition of the Liberal and National parties—has decided against throwing its support behind a bill to repeal the state’s 30-plus-year ban on uranium mining, despite earlier reports suggesting otherwise.Go to Article
Kazatomprom to continue reduced uranium production through 2022Kazatomprom is extending uranium production cuts. Photo: KazatompromKazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium production company, will continue “flexing down” production by 20 percent through 2022, compared to the planned levels under subsoil use contracts, the company announced last week. It will also maintain its 20 percent reduction against subsoil use contracts in 2021, with no additional production planned to replace volumes lost in 2020 due to measures taken to combat COVID-19.Kazatomprom does not expect to return to full subsoil use contract production levels until a sustained market recovery is evident and demand and supply conditions signal a need for more uranium, the company noted.Go to Article
Court upholds Virginia ban on uranium miningA Virginia circuit court judge has upheld the state’s 38-year-old moratorium on uranium mining, rejecting Virginia Uranium Inc.’s (VUI) argument that the ban was an unconstitutional violation of the company’s rights regarding its Coles Hill property. On July 27, Judge Chadwick Dotson ruled in the state’s favor, declaring that while the mining prohibition does amount to a taking or damaging of private property within the meaning of the state constitution, Virginia had a compelling interest to do so.Go to Article
Barrasso: The future of nuclear energy is AmericanSen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) authored an op-ed that was published in the Casper Star Tribune this week on the importance of rebuilding domestic uranium production. The article was published on the heels of a draft Senate bill, the American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2020, that was released on July 29. Go to Article
Agencies sign MOU to strengthen U.S. uranium mining industryKristine Svinicki, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, have signed a memorandum of understanding to improve coordination and cooperation in the regulation of the in situ recovery (ISR) process of uranium extraction and to support the goal of establishing a stronger U.S. uranium mining industry.Go to Article