Oct
17
2011
Former New Jersey Governor and Bush administration EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman told a crowd assembled for the Governor’s Energy Conference in Richmond that nuclear energy was the most viable clean energy option in Virginia’s energy portfolio.
Mrs. Whitman pointed out that although nuclear accounts for 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply, the emissions-free technology actually accounts for 73% of all clean energy produced in the U.S. each year. Because nuclear accounts for 40 percent of Virginia’s electricity, Whitman said, nuclear actually represents an even higher percentage of the clean energy produced in Virginia than it does nationally.
Unlike fossil fuel plants such as coal and natural gas, nuclear reactors produce zero emissions of the major common pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and fine particulate matter. Nuclear energy also generates zero carbon emissions that have been associated with global climate change.
Mrs. Whitman also spoke about the significant economic impact nuclear energy has on communities across the country. Every new reactor the U.S. brings online creates 2,400 construction jobs to build the reactor and 500-700 permanent jobs to operate and maintain the reactor. Each new reactor also sustains hundreds of workers at a manufacturing facility that builds the component parts for those reactors.
Mrs. Whitman specifically alluded to Northrop Grumman and AREVA’s $360 million reactor components manufacturing facility the companies are building in Newport News. When complete in 2013 or 2014, the facility will create as many as 500 new jobs and will supply the next generation of U.S. reactors with the heavy component parts they need to be built.
Speaking to the job creating potential of nuclear energy, Mrs. Whitman said that in the coming decades, roughly 35% of the nuclear workforce at the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors will be reaching retirement age. That represents tens of thousands of new, high-paying jobs that will soon be available to the up-and-coming generation of American engineers. Just behind petroleum and computer engineers, nuclear engineers are the highest paid in the U.S., according to Mrs. Whitman, typically drawing annual salaries above $100,000.
While some universities like Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University have revitalized their nuclear studies departments in recent years, Mrs. Whitman urged Virginia’s network of other colleges and universities to follow suit and capitalize on this major opportunity for new workforce development in the Commonwealth.
Addressing safety issues that have arisen since the nuclear accident in Japan earlier this year, Mrs. Whitman stated emphatically that the U.S. nuclear industry is safe and getting safer. However, the industry isn’t resting on its laurels and its previous track record of stellar safety performance. Instead, Mrs. Whitman said, the industry and the main industry watchdog, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), have launched respective industry-wide reviews of all safety procedures and mechanisms. The nuclear industry and the NRC are currently implementing a series of new recommendations based on the findings of those reviews to further strengthen safety performance and bolster confidence in the industry’s record of safety.
Oct
14
2011
Northampton County, Virginia is soon to be home to the first testing facility on the Atlantic Coast for wind turbines reaching a height of 750 feet.
Before any company can install wind turbines offshore or on land they must be certified for performance, design and noise emissions. The Eastern Shore testing facility will allow companies to rent one of the 10 test pads at the facility and gain those certifications.
The project called Poseidon Atlantic is a joint partnership between Real NewEnergy, a renewable energy company based in Maryland, and Ecofys, a subsidiary of Dutch-based Eneco.
“The Poseidon Atlantic project is transformational for the future development of offshore wind technology, as there is currently a worldwide lack of facilities that are suitable for full-service certification testing of offshore wind turbine technology,” Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said in a news release.
McDonnell has been proactive in promoting advanced energy technologies in office, including tapping into Virginia’s significant offshore wind potential. In a bid to make Virginia the “Energy Capital of the East Coast,” Governor McDonnell has also focused on boosting the state’s other traditional and renewable energy sectors, including solar, nuclear, coal and natural gas.
The offshore wind testing project would provide 25 immediate new jobs to the Eastern Shore, but in the long run Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling says Poseidon could add thousands of jobs in manufacturing, construction, logistics and maintenance.
Northampton County officials have already approved an ordinance change to allow for the construction of wind turbines up to 750 feet tall.
Similar facilities exist in Europe, but are booked years in advance. There are two facilities on the East Coast in New England and South Carolina that provide testing for turbine blades and gear boxes but not the whole wind turbine.
The testing facility will tie-in with Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s electric grid, allowing the power generated to be used to serve local utility customers.
Currently the companies are working with local land owners on property leases and obtaining the permits needed for the testing facility.
Construction is slated to begin in mid-2012 and wind turbines could start being constructed as early as 2013.
In early September, The Department of Energy granted Alstom Power Inc. $4.1 million to develop an advanced turbine control system and Dominion Resources $500,000 to analyze a hypothetical offshore wind project.
Several wind energy companies are waiting for clearance from the U.S. Interior Department to begin seeking leases for offshore wind development in areas off Virginia’s coast. The Interior Department is expected to initiate the lease sale application process this year.
Oct
12
2011
In late September, Pittsylvania County teacher and author Larry Aaron traveled with a group of two dozen state legislators, local government officials, farmers and Farm Bureau representatives to tour one of the largest uranium mines in Canada. The group spent three days in Saskatchewan to uncover firsthand the truth about the modern uranium mining industry and discover any lessons from Canada that could be applied to potential uranium mining in Virginia.
Here are the series of three accounts by Larry Aaron of his travels. Here is what Mr. Aaron saw, what he learned, what he asked and most importantly how what he learned can help inform Virginia as lawmakers consider whether to allow uranium mining in the state.
BY LARRY AARON
Pittsylvania County, VA
SASKATCHEWAN, Canada – If there ever was a place where uranium was a primary source of income, a major employer, hefty source of tax revenue, and its mining and milling in an unlikely context, it’s Saskatchewan, Canada.
Which is why I decided to take the opportunity offered by Virginia Uranium to accompany Virginia legislators and other local citizens on this trip to that Canadian province and actually see the terrain and the mining operation itself.
Besides, being able to observe a uranium milling operation in progress and go into an underground uranium mine could offer insight into what might occur in Pittsylvania County in years to come.
Saskatchewan province, six times larger than Virginia with one-eighth its population, is covered with prairie and forest, produces the majority of Canada’s grain, and its beef cattle production is only exceeded by Alberta.
The province is also the largest exporter of uranium in the world, with some of the highest grade ore deposits ever found.
Given to temperature extremes from various air masses and a fourth of the average rainfall in the Pittsylvania County area, Saskatchewan nevertheless has wetlands and abounds with lakes and rivers.
In fact there are over 10,000 lakes in Saskatchewan and many are found in the northern part where uranium operations exist.
Cameco, short for Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation, along with the French-owned Areva, has invested heavily in mining there.
Cameco’s Eagle Point uranium mine operation is the largest in the western world and its Rabbit Lake milling operation is the largest worldwide.
What I find intriguing through my research is that Cameco’s mining and milling operations are basically surrounded by water, especially nearby Wollaston Lake and Collins Bay, both home to trout, northern pike, and other game fish.
Truth is, Wollaston Lake attracts fishermen from all over seeking trophy-size catches in one of Canada’s best freshwater fisheries.
It is also interesting that Wollaston Lake is the largest lake in the world draining in two different directions, into both the Arctic Ocean and also the Hudson Bay.
But my interest goes beyond the locale and environmental picture in Canada. We can hardly do without nuclear energy; in fact, it saved my life.
I’ve had radioactive ” seed” implants to treat prostate cancer and was told not to be near pregnant women or very close to children for six weeks.
To be sure the cancer had not spread before that procedure I was given a full body skeletal scan using Technetium 99, that “dye” they inject into you when you have a CAT scan or PET scan also.
Medical radioisotopes like the ones above are widely used and are made in nuclear reactors run by uranium dug up in somebody’s back yard.
Beyond that the use of both can set off a radiation alarm in a nuclear reactor for months afterward.
Not only that, the radioisotopes above decay by emitting those “bad boy” gamma rays that penetrate body tissues.
The daughter products of Technetium 99 especially have a half-life of 210,000 years (yes that figure is correct) but the radioactivity is so low it’s not harmful.
I also know that 20 percent of the electricity that comes into my home originates from nuclear power plants, whether I like it or not.
So, if uranium and what it does for us can be so good, why is it so bad?
It’s the milling process, the dust and tailings, we’re told. Radioactivity and some dangerous heavy metals are found in the tailings and perhaps they can leach out or get access to the environment and pollute the land, air, and water. They have in the past.
Then why is it that the streams and lakes and rivers around Cameco’s uranium mines and milling sites reputedly boast an excellent record regarding pollution?
Good question.
And that’s what I wanted to find out too – among other things.
Hopefully both Cameco and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will have some answers.
Read Part I of Mr. Aaron’s account in the Chatham Star Tribune.
***
Along with some other local citizens and Virginia state legislators I arrived in Saskatoon, Canada, on Monday, Sept. 26, and on Tuesday morning left by plane for northern Saskatchewan. There we visited Cameco’s uranium mine operation at Eagle Point and their Rabbit Lake milling operations.
But, you ask, what’s uranium mining in Canada got to do with Pittsylvania County over 1800 miles away. Well, a lot actually.
Water was everywhere, and even more so at our destination. The abundant lakes, resulting from glaciers scraping out the land, appeared from the window of the plane like elongated strings of pearls. By the time we neared the uranium operation there seemed to be as much water as land.
Indeed the uranium mining site is situated on a peninsula with Wollaston Lake on one side and Collins Bay on the other. While drier than other parts of Canada, the mine area gets 20 inches of rain to our average of about 40.
But that’s not all. In our first briefing, Maurice Balych, Cameco’s superintendent of environment and reclamation at the Rabbit Lake uranium mill, told us that each year it starts snowing in October and stays on the ground until June, accumulating 5-6 feet. (It had already snowed previous to our visit.)
The months of June and July have the majority of the rainfall and as air masses collide over Saskatchewan, sometimes thunderstorms get serious.
Our visit was serious as well; we didn’t just look around. In our briefings at the mine and milling site Balych and others offered scientific, technological and workforce information regarding what goes on there.
We asked lots of pointed questions and Cameco officials were generous and transparent with their answers. There was never any hesitation on their part to give extensive explanations.
Nor did they restrict us in videotaping or taking pictures throughout our visit. Neither was there any restriction on who we could talk to. I do not know how they could have been more cooperative.
After an extensive tour of the milling plant, we went into the uranium mine and followed the tunnel under Wollaston Lake. There we viewed actual drilling as they prepared to retrieve more ore.
Before we got there, however, a real emergency happened in the mine. The ventilation fans shut down and we were all ushered to a room labeled Refuge Station. It had its own oxygen supplies and safety equipment and was sealed off from the rest of the mine.
This was not planned for our benefit, because the whole operation stops until this problem is corrected, which it was and we continued our tour.
However, it illustrates, at least from my observations, that Cameco leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the safety of the workers or the environment.
In fact, Balych said uranium mining is so safe that his brother, who is a pilot, gets about five times as much radiation per year as he does working at the mine.
The lack of environmental and health issues was a common theme among those we met from Cameco.
For instance, in a casual conversation I had with Val Schwindt, safety director at the Cameco operations, he stated that he could not recall any pollution or health problems with the company’s modern-day mining methods.
I asked him to what extent the mine is regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. He remarked that the CNSC does not tolerate any failure to correct a problem and if not done by their deadline, in his words: “They will shut you down.”
Lest his comments appear self-serving and protective of Cameco, he actually works for the contractors who service the company, not the company itself.
Like Schwindt, everyone I talked to at the mine and milling site only reinforced what I already knew about uranium and its effects. There were no surprises.
Just to be sure though, as we traveled back to Saskatoon for Wednesday’s meeting with government officials, I searched the landscape in vain for a three-headed cow. No surprise there either.
And I didn’t glow in the dark that night.
Read Part 2 of Mr. Aaron’s account in the Chatham Star-Tribune.
***
On the last day of our visit to examine Canadian uranium operations in Saskatchewan, only government regulatory officials were at our conference in Saskatoon. No officials from Cameco, the uranium company, were present.
Kevin Scissons of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission pointed out that some workers have higher background radiation in their homes away from the uranium mining and milling sites than they do at their work site.
He stated, too, that the uranium industry is the most heavily regulated in Canada. It is strictly controlled from “the cradle to the grave.”
And just to put things in perspective about safety issues, Scissons remarked,”It is safer to work in a uranium mine than in a Saskatoon government office.”
In personal correspondence with me, Scissons further noted, “There has not been any contamination or heavy metal issues in Wollaston Lake from the Rabbit Lake (milling) site.”
Scissons added that 30 years ago mine wastes in the Province, “were pumped into the environment with no controls.” But strong actions were taken, and today “these modern mines have been meeting all requirements and licensing conditions.”
Tim Moulding from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment spoke about water from the milling process being released back into the lake. It is kept in a holding tank and all heavy metal and radon issues are dealt with before it is released. They know what the water quality is before they release it. They don’t wait for surprises.
Following up on his answer, I asked Moulding to discuss pollution concerns associated with uranium operations compared to other heavy metal mines (copper, nickel, etc). He remarked that uranium is at the top of the list in having the least number of pollution issues compared to all other mining operations in Canada.
Neil Crocker, chief mining inspector for the province, categorically stated that today, with all the regulations, health issues for uranium workers are “statistically insignificant from the general population.”
He further stated, “When you see data from well run operations you find health and pollution issues are really non existent.”
This confirmed what Cameco’s superintendent of environment and reclamation, Maurice Balych, related in my recent correspondence with him: “There have been no health issues directly related to uranium or radiation exposure at any of our mining operations.”
Our group of Virginia legislators and citizens also heard from Gary Delaney, chief geologist, and Cory Hughes, director of mineral policy, both from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources. Their comments were equally encouraging.
Canada’s uranium operations appear to be a complete success. That being true, I wondered if people in general were comfortable with uranium mining.
I posed that question to Rory MacClean at Saskatoon’s newspaper, The Star Phoenix, thinking the media would have their hand on the pulse of the population about this issue if any body would.
MacClean said: “My sense is that mining is generally accepted here. Mining – whether it’s for potash, diamonds, gold or uranium – is what sustains this province.”
He also stated that opposition comes further down the supply chain. He referred to the nuclear waste from reactors, not from mining and milling.
Perhaps the acceptance of uranium mining goes beyond Cameco’s safety record. Cameco has made a determined effort not to be an “arms-length mining company.” It stays actively involved with the nearby communities and from them hires over 50 percent of its workers.
Cameco enjoys a great reputation with regulatory agencies, too. Kevin Scissons of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, told me this: “We have found Cameco staff to be honest, trustworthy, and fully answer any/all questions asked of them.”
I found that to be my impression as well.
But you might question why Cameco showed us around at all. What’s in it for them? you ask. That’s exactly the question I put to Rob Gereghty, external communications manager for Cameco.
He responded: “Cameco was pleased to set up this tour, so that the (legislative) delegation received first-hand information on uranium mining and milling. We have no direct interests in the state of Virginia.”
And to the recent question of possible flooding at the Coles Hill site in Pittyslvania County, Cameco uranium mine operations has excess water as well from six feet of snow that falls during the year.
Superintendent Balych related to me that, “We have to manage spring melt and the associated runoff from the mine, mill and all our containment areas.”
The real question, of course, is not about Canada but about here. Can we mine and mill uranium safely in Pittsylvania County?
That’s up to us.
They do it in Canada.
Read Part 3 of Mr. Aaron’s account in the Chatham Star-Tribune.
