Richmond drops the ball, not the cash (NAS/Uranium Study in VA)

Comment: Attention NAS, reject the uranium study or we will doubt your so call science when a Profit for Uranium Corporation is paying the study! Please review the following articles about the NAS!

By Published by The Editorial Board
Published: September 8, 2009

Virginia’s study of uranium mining finally has the funding it needs to move forward, thanks to the only entity that ever offered to pay for it.

Virginia Uranium Inc. Chairman Walter Coles Sr. long ago said his company would pay for the state study. With the commonwealth unwilling to fund the study and no one else waving their checkbook around, VUI money was the only way to move this issue forward.

In a better world, the state government should have paid for the study. The state’s moratorium keeps VUI from mining what’s believed to be the largest untapped uranium deposit in the United States. If the study sways the General Assembly to lift the moratorium, it will be state agencies that will assume part of the responsibility for writing mining and milling regulations and ensuring that they’re enforced.

But most of all, it was in the state’s interest to allow the National Academy of Sciences to do its work without mining opponents from accusing the NAS of somehow being in the pocket of Virginia Uranium Inc.

That argument is a slap in the face of the scientists, researchers and others who will be involved in this project. It will no doubt plan a fertile seed of future debate, doubt and consternation. The state has done a cheap and foolish thing.

Compounding the problem is the NAS study probably won’t be a slam-dunk for either side. Both camps are likely to complain that certain things weren’t checked out by the National Academy of Sciences or that certain people weren’t interviewed or that certain places weren’t visited.

Even conditional conclusions — if this is done, then that will happen — are likely to be scrutinized right down to the syllable.

Given the stakes for both sides, we could be looking at years of argument that doesn’t convince anybody of anything — including majorities of the House of Delegates and state Senate.

Additionally, many local people supported an outside study of uranium mining and milling and are counting on the study’s results to inform their final choice on the matter.

For its part, an NAS spokeswoman said her agency doesn’t have direct contact with the companies it studies.

“We would not work directly with them (VUI),” Jennifer Walsh said. “We would only go to them with questions and concerns. They would have no say-so in the study.”

Is that the end of it? Probably not. Should it be the end of it? Probably so. But the problem could have been avoided if the state of Virginia didn’t saddle the National Academy of Sciences with this controversy.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/editorials/danville_editorials/article/richmond_drops_the_ball_not_the_cash/13689/

National Academy of Sciences responds to uranium criticism

Comment: Uranium mining has never been mine safely anywhere in the world. Canada and Australia are good examples of problems with uranium mining! The NAS should not take money from VUI!

By John Crane

Published: September 3, 2009

A spokeswoman for the National Academy of Sciences responded Thursday to criti-cism from uranium-mining opponents that the academy is pro-nuclear.

Mining foes also say that a study performed by the NAS and paid for by Virginia Ura-nium Inc. would tilt in favor of uranium-mining.

The NAS has not received a formal request to conduct a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the common-wealth, said Jennifer Walsh, spokeswoman for the NAS.

But Walsh said the academy has performed unbiased, federal-level studies in the past involving the to-bacco and cell-phone industries. When an industry pays for a study, the NAS usually works with a third organization that provides funding on behalf of a company or industry, she said.

“We would not work directly with them (VUI),” Walsh said Thursday. “We would only go to them with questions and concerns. They would have no say-so in the study.”

VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chat-ham.

Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-1st District and chairman of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, said Wednesday VUI will pay for the state study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the state. Kilgore said he will send a letter to the NAS to let offi-cials there know VUI will fund the study. So far, VUI is the sole entity that has expressed interest in paying for the study.

Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research will implement funding and will contract with the NAS for the study.

Attempts to contact Mi-chael Karmis, head of the VCCER, were unsuccessful Thursday.

The study’s first portion, which will examine the technical and public-safety aspects of mining and milling, will cost between $1.2-$1.4 million, Kilgore said. The study’s first phase should begin by the end of the year.

Mining opponents say a study paid for with VUI money will not be objective.

Walsh said an executive committee of the NAS govern-ing board would review a study proposal, its budget and work plan — a process that could take weeks or months. If a study is approved, staff from the NAS and the National Research Council would assemble a committee of scien-tific experts who will hold information-gathering meetings on the study. The meetings are open to the public and posted on the NAS Web site ahead of time at http://www.national-academies.org.
Members of the public can follow the progress of the academy’s studies by going to the Web site and clicking on the “current projects” link. To learn more about the NAS study process, go to the “National Academies study process” link.

The study’s second part would focus on mining’s socio-economic impact, in-cluding effects on real-estate values and businesses. The VCEC will seek another institution, such as George Mason University or James Madison University, to perform the second portion of the study. Kilgore said he is looking at foundations to pay for the second phase, which would not be funded by VUI. The study’s second portion would probably begin in early 2010.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/national_academy_of_sciences_responds_to_uranium_criticism/13662/