Va Beach Writer Says NO to Uranium Study

(From www.vbdems.org , Va Beach Democrats)

Yes, Virginia. Uranium Mining!

Jan 24th 2008
Post by Eileen Levandoski

From a Beach (as in ocean, as in waves) legislator nonetheless. Yes, this could be Virginia if Sen. Frank Wagner gets his way.

Virginia Beach's own has introduced a bill that will open the door to uranium mining in Virginia and threatens to lift a moratorium prohibiting uranium mining that dates back to 1982.
Uranium mining produces massive tailings piles of radioactive waste that would contaminate our air, drinking water, and pristine rivers and streams. Past experiences with uranium mining have been limited to sparsely populated regions of the arid Southwest. It is doubtful that uranium could be mined safely in a wet climate and in a region with higher population density, as is found in Virginia.

Don't allow Virginia to become a testing ground for a dangerous new experiment in uranium mining! Email/call your Senator especially if he/she serves on the Senate Agricultural, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee who will consider this bill on Monday, Jan. 28th, bright and early at 9:00 AM. Take action TODAY!

Remember. this is a completely separate issue from the question of nuclear power generation. If you've seen pictures of the collapse of a dam holding back hundreds of acre-feet of coal slag tailings, imagine what it would be like with a radioactive uranium slag.

"Even if you rescinded all other considerations", writes a commenter at the Daily Press, "Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island demonstrate that humans are not responsible enough to play with this toy." This is especially true of humans named "Frank Wagner".

Here are some quick facts about uranium mining from Tidewater CCAN's Rick Kennerly:
1. with just a slight increase in acidity of the water, uranium deposits are highly water soluble material
2. it takes 1-2 tons of ore to produce 1 lb of yellow cake uranium and of that only 1-2% is reactor quality material, that's a lot of mine tailings
3. this is a slurry process sure to produce acres of dammed radioactive sludge near our waterways and ground water sources
4. the Pennsylvania county (Pittsylvania) (Danville region) gets 44 inches of rain per year, increasing the likelihood of leeching or a dam break
5. uranium mining has never been attempted in an area with such a large population
6. the water shed from this region feeds both the Richmond (James River) and the Virginia Beach (Lake Gaston) water supplies.

Disclaimer: The views expressed on the VBDems blog are those of the individual authors and commenters, and not of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee or any other group, organization, club, or entity to which authors may belong unless otherwise specified in individual blog entries. Posts are not authorized by any candidate or committee unless otherwise specified in individual posts.