Monday, August 25, 2008
Danger ahead with uranium mining
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W. G. Nunn
Nunn is retired and a concerned citizen of Halifax County.
I read the story by Max Schulz of the Manhattan Institute that appeared in the Wall Street Journal about uranium mining at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County ("Cross Country: Virginia is sitting on the energy mother lode," July 26). I have also read numerous quotes from James Kelly, former head of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Virginia on this same subject.
I am concerned that people like these two and all other proponents of uranium mining in Virginia never live where they would be in any danger of mining operations, or they have a financial interest in uranium mining. They always seem to think that they know what is best for us. Of all these proponents of uranium mining, except maybe for local stockholders, I don't think any express any great interest in buying property and moving to Southside Virginia, let alone in Pittsylvania or Halifax counties.
Here's something to think about. Let's just suppose someone with a foreign government wanted to come to the U.S. and, in a densely populated and vegetated area of our country, explode a nuclear device to see what effects the radioactive fallout would have on the populace, animals, crops, food supply and water. What a terrible experiment this would be. What do you think our citizens would do? They would say that it was insanity and would do anything it took to prevent it.
A foreign-owned corporation is planning on developing a gigantic open-pit uranium mine, including a uranium ore milling operation, in Southside Virginia, just a few miles from Chatham and Gretna. There could be two pits, each 800 feet deep and each covering 110 acres; that's the equivalent of 55 city blocks wide and 112 blocks deep.
The constant blasting in the mine, the milling of the ore and the stockpiling of the fine radioactive tailings have the potential of spreading radioactive dust in all directions, much the same way a bomb would spread radioactive fallout. According to VUI's private presentation, there could be potentially 41,2 million pounds of tailings. That's enough to produce a mountain 400 feet wide, 200 feet high (that's 20 stories) and many miles long. Remember, this mine would be only about six miles from Chatham, even closer to Gretna and very near the Banister River.
Radioactive dust being blown into the air and leaching into the streams would contaminate humans, animals, crops and vegetation, food supplies and water for hundreds of miles -- from the Banister River to the Albemarle Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, including Lake Gaston, the water supply for Virginia Beach. The danger of contamination from this dust could be compared to the detonation of a nuclear device, as this mining operation would last 30 years or more. Another danger would be deadly radon gas emitting from these pits.
This operation would really be an experiment for the uranium company as it cannot assure anyone that it would be safe. At this time, it does not even have any type of liability insurance. It says it has "real-time monitoring and reactions." As one opponents said, "If you have to react, then the damage is already done." We can't afford to be guinea pigs for their experiment. There is no real cleanup for radiation contamination; when the genie gets out of the bottle, you can't put him back. Radiation is forever."
If Virginia should allow them to mine, some years later -- when the extent of this pollution has been discovered or even sooner in the case of a disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, flood or earthquake -- the corporation owners would most likely just close the mine and milling operation, declare bankruptcy, move away to safer parts of the world, leave the mountain of tailings there and leave the populace to suffer whatever would befall them.
Uranium mining has never been done in Virginia and nowhere in the type of terrain we have in Southside, nor in places that have the amount of annual rainfall we do. It has only been done in sparsely populated, dry and arid regions. Many places near where it has been done are now ghost towns, unfit for human inhabitation.
The people of Southside need to educate themselves quickly about the dangers of uranium mining. Find out what you can do to help prevent uranium mining in Virginia. For more information go to: www.sccchatham.blogspot.com, www.uranium2008.blogspot.com and learn more.
