Daniel Carawan
, Richmond Progressive Examiner January 23, 2012
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters (VLCV) had a few choice words for Gov. Bob McDonnell’s recent decision to request that Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining be kept in place.
According to the VLCV, Gov. McDonnell is undermining the General Assembly on the issue of uranium mining, an issue that should be ultimately decided by the VA legislature.
The General Assembly had been scheduled to vote on the 30 year ban during the 2012 session, although the likelihood of the moratorium being lifted is unknown.
McDonnell instead wishes to find a regulatory framework for milling and mining VA’s uranium ore to ensure that VA operates the “safest uranium mine in the world,” whatever that’s worth.
While all of this sounds well and good for Virginians who care more about human and environmental safety than the almighty dollar, Virginia Uranium Inc.’s (VUI) welcoming of McDonnell’s request seems a bit unnerving. VUI’s response to McDonnell’s announcement makes it appear as if VUI is confident, extremely confident, that the ban on uranium mining will be lifted sometime within the next few sessions of the legislature.
However, there is no such thing as “safe” uranium mining or milling. It may, however, be safe relative to another uranium mining and/or milling project somewhere else in the country.
The question then becomes, how safe was the other uranium mining or milling project that ours is being compared to?
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