National Academy of Sciences ironing out details of uranium study
In a development that could propel forward the movement to achieve energy independence, the National Academy of Sciences is inching closer toward beginning work on a much anticipated study of uranium mining in Virginia. The Governing Board of the National Research Council – the research arm of the National Academy – met in Washington, D.C. on November 10 to iron out some of the unresolved issues surrounding the proposed study. However, after the conclusion of the meeting, a few issues remain unsettled.
Jennifer Walsh, spokeswoman for the National Academy of Sciences, told the Danville Register & Bee that “given the complexity with several institutions involved, our staff is continuing to work on how we will go about doing the study. So far, our standard statement of task and approval process is not yet complete.”
The study will examine the environmental, health and safety implications of uranium mining in Virginia. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission requested that the National Academy perform the study to develop recommendations for the General Assembly as it weighs whether or not to lift Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining. Virginia is one of only four states to have such a moratorium.
The impetus for the study was renewed interest in the development of the largest untapped uranium deposit in the United States found in Pittsylvania County. The Coles Hill deposit contains an estimated 119 million pounds of uranium ore – enough nuclear fuel to power Virginia’s nuclear demand for 65 years. Nuclear energy generates roughly 40% of Virginia’s electricity supply. With two new nuclear reactors likely being built in Virginia in the next decade, advocates for energy independence would rather obtain the additional fuel needed from our own domestic supply and generate the resulting jobs and economic activity here at home than from a foreign country like Russia, Kazakhstan or Niger. Mining the deposit would create as many as 500 high-paying jobs in the economically depressed Southside region and provide more than $13 million annually to cash-strapped local governments.
