Comments: The answer to the following question is a huge NO: Ultimately, he said, it’s a matter of deciding if the risks — and the costs — are worth the benefits
Uranium regs would be costly for Virginia
Posted: 12/07/2012 2:32 PM
RICHMOND — If Virginia tried to regulate uranium mining, it would need a new bureaucracy of 24 to 25 professionals plus administrative staff, the chairman of the National Academy of Sciences panel on uranium mining in Virginia said Thursday.
“If you lift the moratorium and you have both mining and processing in here, you want Virginia to be the top cop,” Paul Locke said.
Locke’s comments came at AP Day at the Capitol, an annual preview of the upcoming General Assembly session. Uranium mining panelists expressed their thoughts on the risks and benefits of uranium mining from several perspectives.
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and process a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit located about six miles from Chatham.
He said that a component of the Uranium Working Group’s report — released last week — that struck him was “the amount of resources and expertise that will be required to do that in a responsible and thoughtful way. … Are we as a commonwealth willing to support that?” he said.
When asked how the state would pay for regulating uranium mining, Locke said, “I don’t know where the money would come from.”
He noted that VUI’s mine and mill at Coles Hill wouldn’t start operating for years, so the money would not come from the industry. “My assumption is we’d have to pony this money up out of our treasury to get this going,” Locke said.
Ultimately, he said, it’s a matter of deciding if the risks — and the costs — are worth the benefits
http://mobi.godanriver.com/godanriver/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=OoGt58mG&full=true#display
Report: Va. uranium regulation could cost $5M a year
By Julian Walker
Scott Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND
If the ban on uranium mining is overturned in Virginia next year, the state would have to create a new regulatory program and hire as many as 30 people to run it, according to a report released Friday.
Prepared by the Uranium Working Group, a collection of mostly government experts assembled by Gov. Bob McDonnell, the report says program costs could approach $5 million annually.
The funds would pay for greater staffing in state mining, and health and environmental agencies, and would cover activities such as radiation inspections, drinking water testing, worker safety training and environmental compliance.
The study says those expenses should not be shouldered by taxpayers but should be covered through permit and license fees by the company hoping to extract uranium from a site in Pittsylvania County, about four hours west of Norfolk.
Months in the making, the study was supported by more than $1 million in fees for a Colorado consulting firm hired to help define a Virginia regulatory framework. Despite its 125 pages, the report makes no recommendation on whether Virginia should end a three-decade ban on such mining. The study instead lays out the numerous steps that lie ahead if the General Assembly votes next spring to overturn the ban, and the governor concurs.
Pushing for the moratorium to end is Virginia Uranium Inc., the company sitting on a 119-million-pound deposit of the radioactive resource that, when processed, is used as fuel in nuclear power plants.
Opposing mining are many Southside residents, farmers and state environmentalists fearful of potential harm to public health. For South Hampton Roads, localities are concerned that mining wastes, known as tailings, could contaminate waterways that feed much of the region's drinking water supply.
Opponents said Friday the study represents "a hypothetical discussion" and questioned whether it was even needed.
"We haven't answered the question of whether to lift the ban," the group Keep the Ban Coalition said in a statement. "And what we've seen in recent weeks is that there's growing consensus of Virginians - including the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Farm Bureau - who believe that this 30-year-old ban has served us well."
The new report comes on the heels of a $1.4 million study by the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, that didn't take sides or make a recommendation about lifting the ban.
Julian Walker, 804-697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
Scott Harper, 757-446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com
http://hamptonroads.com/2012/11/reaction-divided-va-uranium-mining-report
Virginia appears to be reaching a critical mass regarding uranium mining and milling in Pittsylvania County.
Today, the Uranium Working Group issued its report outlining what steps would be needed if Virginia were to lift its 30-year-old moratorium on uranium mining. Meanwhile, the powerful Virginia Farm Bureau joined a group of mining opponents including The Virginia Association of Counties, Virginia Beach and Norfolk which are strongly against lifting the ban.
Created by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, the working group spent months researching what would need to be done if the ban were lifted and Virginia Uranium applied for permits to mine some 119 million pounds of uranium ore near Chatham.
The group did not make any recommendations but is providing information should the General Assembly take up lifting the ban in January.
The report says there are two choices. Should Virginia regulate uranium mining and milling? Or should the milling operation be handled by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission which has the authority and experience to oversee it. (The NRC does not oversee mining but milling or refining ore)
.
If the state takes on the regulatory responsibility, it will need substantial new government resources including roughly 30 new professionals spread across such agencies as the Department of Mines Minerals and Energy, the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality. They would cost maybe $5 million or more which the report says could be paid from fees charged mining firms. There wasn’t an estimate on local government costs.
The state would still be involved if the NRC were to oversee milling. An environmental assessment must be done before mining operations are begun. Virginia would still have authority over air or water emissions from the uranium operation.
Uranium would take the state’s regulatory apparatus to a new level. Oversight would been needed for airborne radioactive emissions, drinking water, well-water, livestock within two miles of the operation, water for recreational swimming, worker safety, truck dust and a host of other matters.
Financial safeguards in the forms of bonds would have to be paid upfront to protect against mishap plus plans for emergency responses would need to be put in place. (I’ll get into more as I digest the report).
In other words, it’s a very tall order. And, the report says it can’t be started unless the moratorium is lifted.
A new proposal by local residents and their Canadian investors has been racked by controversy ever since with company officials taking legislators on expenses-paid trips to France (Paris included), supposedly to gather information.
There have been a series of studies including a couple by economists saying the proposal could bring in plenty of money and another by the National Academy of Sciences raising serious questions about safety, notably since Tidewater cities get their drinking water from lakes nearby.
Where uranium prices will be then is anyone’s guess. Spot prices for uranium yellowcake reached the mid $70s/pound level in early 2011 but took a huge tumble after the Fukushima reactor disaster in March of that year. They are now around $40/pound.
So, is it all worth the risk and hassle?
http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/11/regulating-uranium-mining-would-be-huge-task.html
“If you lift the moratorium and you have both mining and processing in here, you want Virginia to be the top cop,” Paul Locke said.
Locke’s comments came at AP Day at the Capitol, an annual preview of the upcoming General Assembly session. Uranium mining panelists expressed their thoughts on the risks and benefits of uranium mining from several perspectives.
Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and process a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit located about six miles from Chatham.
He said that a component of the Uranium Working Group’s report — released last week — that struck him was “the amount of resources and expertise that will be required to do that in a responsible and thoughtful way. … Are we as a commonwealth willing to support that?” he said.
When asked how the state would pay for regulating uranium mining, Locke said, “I don’t know where the money would come from.”
He noted that VUI’s mine and mill at Coles Hill wouldn’t start operating for years, so the money would not come from the industry. “My assumption is we’d have to pony this money up out of our treasury to get this going,” Locke said.
Ultimately, he said, it’s a matter of deciding if the risks — and the costs — are worth the benefits
http://mobi.godanriver.com/godanriver/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=OoGt58mG&full=true#display
Report: Va. uranium regulation could cost $5M a year
By Julian Walker
Scott Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
RICHMOND
If the ban on uranium mining is overturned in Virginia next year, the state would have to create a new regulatory program and hire as many as 30 people to run it, according to a report released Friday.
Prepared by the Uranium Working Group, a collection of mostly government experts assembled by Gov. Bob McDonnell, the report says program costs could approach $5 million annually.
The funds would pay for greater staffing in state mining, and health and environmental agencies, and would cover activities such as radiation inspections, drinking water testing, worker safety training and environmental compliance.
The study says those expenses should not be shouldered by taxpayers but should be covered through permit and license fees by the company hoping to extract uranium from a site in Pittsylvania County, about four hours west of Norfolk.
Months in the making, the study was supported by more than $1 million in fees for a Colorado consulting firm hired to help define a Virginia regulatory framework. Despite its 125 pages, the report makes no recommendation on whether Virginia should end a three-decade ban on such mining. The study instead lays out the numerous steps that lie ahead if the General Assembly votes next spring to overturn the ban, and the governor concurs.
Pushing for the moratorium to end is Virginia Uranium Inc., the company sitting on a 119-million-pound deposit of the radioactive resource that, when processed, is used as fuel in nuclear power plants.
Opposing mining are many Southside residents, farmers and state environmentalists fearful of potential harm to public health. For South Hampton Roads, localities are concerned that mining wastes, known as tailings, could contaminate waterways that feed much of the region's drinking water supply.
Opponents said Friday the study represents "a hypothetical discussion" and questioned whether it was even needed.
"We haven't answered the question of whether to lift the ban," the group Keep the Ban Coalition said in a statement. "And what we've seen in recent weeks is that there's growing consensus of Virginians - including the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia Association of Counties and the Virginia Farm Bureau - who believe that this 30-year-old ban has served us well."
The new report comes on the heels of a $1.4 million study by the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, that didn't take sides or make a recommendation about lifting the ban.
Julian Walker, 804-697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
Scott Harper, 757-446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com
http://hamptonroads.com/2012/11/reaction-divided-va-uranium-mining-report
Regulating Uranium Mining Would Be Huge Task
Virginia appears to be reaching a critical mass regarding uranium mining and milling in Pittsylvania County.
Today, the Uranium Working Group issued its report outlining what steps would be needed if Virginia were to lift its 30-year-old moratorium on uranium mining. Meanwhile, the powerful Virginia Farm Bureau joined a group of mining opponents including The Virginia Association of Counties, Virginia Beach and Norfolk which are strongly against lifting the ban.
Created by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, the working group spent months researching what would need to be done if the ban were lifted and Virginia Uranium applied for permits to mine some 119 million pounds of uranium ore near Chatham.
The group did not make any recommendations but is providing information should the General Assembly take up lifting the ban in January.
The report says there are two choices. Should Virginia regulate uranium mining and milling? Or should the milling operation be handled by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission which has the authority and experience to oversee it. (The NRC does not oversee mining but milling or refining ore)
.
If the state takes on the regulatory responsibility, it will need substantial new government resources including roughly 30 new professionals spread across such agencies as the Department of Mines Minerals and Energy, the Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Quality. They would cost maybe $5 million or more which the report says could be paid from fees charged mining firms. There wasn’t an estimate on local government costs.
The state would still be involved if the NRC were to oversee milling. An environmental assessment must be done before mining operations are begun. Virginia would still have authority over air or water emissions from the uranium operation.
Uranium would take the state’s regulatory apparatus to a new level. Oversight would been needed for airborne radioactive emissions, drinking water, well-water, livestock within two miles of the operation, water for recreational swimming, worker safety, truck dust and a host of other matters.
Financial safeguards in the forms of bonds would have to be paid upfront to protect against mishap plus plans for emergency responses would need to be put in place. (I’ll get into more as I digest the report).
In other words, it’s a very tall order. And, the report says it can’t be started unless the moratorium is lifted.
A new proposal by local residents and their Canadian investors has been racked by controversy ever since with company officials taking legislators on expenses-paid trips to France (Paris included), supposedly to gather information.
There have been a series of studies including a couple by economists saying the proposal could bring in plenty of money and another by the National Academy of Sciences raising serious questions about safety, notably since Tidewater cities get their drinking water from lakes nearby.
Where uranium prices will be then is anyone’s guess. Spot prices for uranium yellowcake reached the mid $70s/pound level in early 2011 but took a huge tumble after the Fukushima reactor disaster in March of that year. They are now around $40/pound.
So, is it all worth the risk and hassle?
http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2012/11/regulating-uranium-mining-would-be-huge-task.html
