nuclear-news

Local water supply might be ruined by uranium mining

(USA) Uranium threat to local lakes under study

A $437,000 study being conducted by the city of Virginia Beach, Va. will examine what might happen to the water quality in Lake Gaston and Kerr Lake if a proposed uranium mine in Chatham, Va. were struck by a Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) storm. “The state is attempting to get a study going through the National Academy of Science,” said Virginia Beach Director of Public Works Thomas Leahy. “But that study will not look at site specific issues or do any modeling of possible catastrophic events.”…..Leahy said the concern is that such a catastrophic event, should it occur, could raise the water radiation level in the lake significantly enough to force Virginia Beach to stop using it as a water source, a move that could cost the city over $500 million.

January 22, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, USA | antinuclear, radiation, radioactive, uranium