Virginia Considers Lifting Uranium Mining Ban Over 'Steep Hurdles'

, December 20, 2011 (ENS) - Health and environmental risks must addressed when considering whether to lift the 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia, finds a new report from the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.

If Virginia lifts its moratorium, there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted" before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that protects workers, the public, and the environment, especially given that the state has no experience regulating mining and processing of the radioactive element, concluded the committee that wrote the report.

"Internationally accepted best practices, which include timely and meaningful public participation, are available to mitigate some of the risks involved. However, there are still many unknowns," said Paul Locke, chair of the committee that wrote the report

If Virginia lifts a moratorium on mining uranium, it will face "steep hurdles" in protecting the health of its people and environment, a long-awaited study warns.

Digging up the radioactive metal and converting it to fuel for nuclear reactors presents "a wide range of potential adverse human health risks," according to the National Academy of Sciences.

By RUSTY DENNEN

Uranium mining and milling in Virginia would present human health and safety and environmental risks, which could be mitigated with best-management practices, according to a long-awaited National Academy of Sciences study released yesterday.

And, of interest to the Fredericksburg area, it concludes that only Virginia Uranium's proposed Coles Hill site in Pittsylvania County would be commercially viable among Virginia deposits, for now. The site is about 180 miles southwest of Fredericksburg.

WASHINGTON  --  The National Academy of Sciences delivered a long-awaited report on uranium mining to the Virginia legislature on Monday, warning that the state faced "steep hurdles" if it is to safely mine and process the nuclear reactor fuel.

The report's release marks the start of what is certain to be impassioned debate over whether to lift a nearly three-decade moratorium and permit landowners in southern Virginia to extract ore from a vast underground deposit, as they first sought to do in the 1980s.

The legislature commissioned the $1.4 million study to provide a thorough and unbiased backdrop for debate over whether to lift the moratorium. The General Assembly asked the panel to study practices in the industry, health and safety issues, and regulatory considerations for the state.

Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, said his administration would review the findings. "I have long maintained that Virginia should be prudent in

According to the New York Times, the National Academy of Sciences delivered a key report to the Virginia legislature on the risks and hurdles facing the state if it decides to end a 1982 ban on uranium oxide mining, a nuclear reactor fuel. The report contains nearly a year's worth of research that was commissioned by the legislature.

The 300-page report notes that it would take five to eight years after lifting the ban to draft regulations that would protect public and environmental health but did not come to the conclusion of whether the moratorium should be ended. With this key research related to domestic nuclear energy production , here are some facts about this alternative fuel source.