Comment: According to RTI's web site, RTI believes in Safe Nuclear Power: http://www.rti.org/newsletters/witw/2010feb-mar/rti_witw_2010-02.pdf, so the nukes are sticking together. RTI according to the article will be working with Clemson University (South Carolina’s unique position as a center of nuclear-based industries makes Clemson the perfect place to educate future leaders of the field, http://www.clemson.edu/features/article.php?article_id=2091, plus SC wants to be nuke power of the world)and the Colorado School of Mines, I mean really cozy with the NAS since the Dr. Corby G. Anderson is on the NAS Study and one that has close relations with uranium mining! Very cozy. Another sold out study to the nukes and pro uranium groups! Uranium mining has never been done safely anywhere in the world but give enough monies for studies it will be the next health program! Of course most people to do not associate nuke power with uranium mining so let’s call Nuke Power Plants, Uranium Power Plants!
By Tara Bozick
Published: November 04, 2010
Now that Danville Regional Foundation chose a research group to assess the socioeconomic impacts of uranium mining in the Dan River Region, the study should begin in about a week.
Danville Regional Foundation announced Thursday that RTI International, an independent nonprofit research institute based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., will conduct the analysis of both positive and negative, short- and long-term impacts associated with uranium extraction within a 50-mile radius of Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County.
Chatham-based Virginia Uranium Inc. proposes to mine and mill the 119-million-pound uranium deposit there.
DRF is paying up to $530,000 for the study, scheduled for completion in December 2011. RTI will not make a case for or against uranium mining.
DRF CEO and President Karl Stauber said the goal is to provide a credible, unbiased and comprehensive examination specific to the Dan River Region so that stakeholders and state leaders can make well-informed decisions about whether uranium mining or milling should be permitted at Coles Hill.
“Like anything else, there are risks and there are benefits,” Stauber said. “What we want is to make those risks and benefits as understandable to everybody as possible and as rigorously defined as possible. Ultimately, this will be a political decision made in Richmond.”
Virginia policymakers will review a scientific study on uranium mining in Virginia from the National Academy of Sciences, also due in December next year.
The NAS study is not site-specific and DRF wanted to make sure that the independent regional socioeconomic impact findings would be available at the same time so all of it would be considered, Stauber said.
DRF chose RTI after an external panel of five scientists from North America reviewed the two proposals submitted, Stauber said.
That panel felt the RTI study proposal was high quality and cost-effective. RTI, an international firm, also had extensive experience in complicated, multidisciplinary assessments and reporting results in an understandable manner.
That’s key because DRF asked for the utmost transparency so residents wouldn’t feel everything was happening behind closed doors, Stauber said.
“As we develop findings, they will be made public,” said Project Director Katherine Heller with RTI.
In addition to a comprehensive report, RTI will also prepare fact sheets, handouts and PowerPoint presentations for public meetings.
RTI knows this is a multi-faceted, high-stakes analysis, but the research institute excels in conducting meaningful studies, Heller said.
“We like to do scientifically sound research that’s applied in a way that makes a difference in people’s lives,” Heller said.
For the regional socioeconomic study, RTI will employ its own team of environmental scientists, economists, engineers, economic development experts and social scientists while working with expert consultants from Clemson University and the Colorado School of Mines.
RTI has access to soil and surface water models and expertise in modeling environmental processes, like how pollutants would move through the environment.
To view RTI’s study proposal and timeline, visit http://www.danvilleregionalfoundation.org/
What will RTI study?
The socioeconomic impact study regarding uranium mining in the region includes:
economic benefits and multiplier effects
mining, milling and waste environmental concerns, like pollution
analyzing hypothetical scenarios — “best reasonable case,” “reasonable case” and “worst reasonable case” — for environmental releases
evaluation of different technology and uranium extraction methods
characterizing current conditions, including environment, economic development climate, attitudes and demographics
perceptions, quality of life and community reputation
shifts in population, housing, amenities, opportunities
impact on government revenues or costs
case studies of uranium mining communities
Read more:
http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2010/nov/04/danville-regional-foundation-chooses-firm-do-urani-ar-632604/
